Playstation All Stars: The war of The Playstation
by TheLeaneHunter9
Summary: The Polygon Man is back and he has one goal: To dominate the Playstation. But when Kenneth Kutaragi steps in to help, the All Stars aren't quite happy with it. But can they work together to defeat a great evil that threatens their existence? and save the console we've all come to know and love: The Playstation!
1. Chapter 1

_Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved._ -Mattie Stepanek

It's strange to think, that there is life other than ours, that there exists.. another world like ours. But what if there isn't. are we all alone in this universe, or is there other life out there? Both ideas are equally as terrifying, but do you ever think about what would happen if we came in contact with those not born of our world, life that was different, things that have a way of life or function in ways we could not comprehend, something that could only exist in an alternate universe. Or a video game. A lot of people love video games because of this, because they give us a sense of what a different world could be like. Over the years many people have tried to replicate this sense as best as they could. One such man is Kenneth Kutaragi, and he is where our story starts. Such giants as Nintendo and Sega sought his aid in an attempt to drive these virtual worlds forward, but when they saw no further need for him, they ditched him. And his ideas. He then turned his ideas into a platform, where these ideas would take wings. The Playstation.

The Playstation was the reason for many successful games. So many virtual worlds were formed on this basis. Many differrent worlds, ranging from the most imaginative worlds possible, to the darkest possible. Everyone knows these games and loves them, all of these games have a cult following. But what about the unsung heroes, those who never got a chance? They are unfortunate, they exist, but with no purpose until they one day get their break! Or so they think.

"A tournament for Playstation Characters?" The Polygon Head asked eagerly to himself. He was a young boy(Well, young polygon thing) "That would be a great idea!" The Polyon Head used his crystal powers to write a letter to Sony Computer Entertainment, requesting this idea to be made into a game being extra-sure to sign it with his name. He waited years for this game to be made and finally, it was announced! He had grown older and was no-longer a young boy, but every day passed and he waited for the game. But he wasn't in it. Then another game came around and it was even bigger than the first. He had a rival, but he was not used in the game, instead someone used CGI and a voice actor to replicate him. The Polygon Head was devastated. His only shot at being in a game, torn up before his eyes. And then, he snapped.

No more were people going to forget he even existed, no more were people going to laugh at him, for he was going to be the face of playstation. No game would be made without him in it, he would force people to buy his games using AP, yes, now was the age of The Polygon Man!

Kutaragi was the first to see the Polygon Man begin his assault on SCE, he drained the life force out of everyone there. Except him. He was still alive. He knew what he had to do.

 **Author's Note**

A look into the future, I present to you my dear audience. I will start writing this fanfiction in 2016 or whenever I get the other fanfiction done and over with. Are you excited? What is the Polygon Man going to do? How does Kutaragi plan? Find out next time!


	2. The Converging

Kutaragi entered the secret bunker underneath SCE Japan HQ. He ran towards the energy encased in the capsule. How much did he have left? Not a lot, but it would suffice for the time being. Kuatargi covered himself in the blue energy. Hoping it would work. He tried to concentrate. Trying to ignore that the world as everyone knew it was coming to an end. No more Earth. He was the only human. The last man standing. The fate of the world rested on his shoulders. He opened his eyes. The time was right. The world was breaking up around him. Rock, slowly replaced by fragments of an otherworldly realm. Kuatargi was in the PSR.

* * *

"Face it Crash, I have you this time!" Dr. Neo Cortex chortled. Crash spun past the Cortex Commandos, but there always seemed to be more coming. Crash kept on punching his way through. But man, there was something, weird today. Like something was helping Cortex. Aku Aku had to be nearby, he just had to be. Crash needed him now more than ever. He had to keep fighting though, he couldn't give Cortex the satisfaction of watching him keel over, like a sick dog Cortex made him out to be. But neither of the two could deny it. Cortex had won, just a matter of time separated Crash and exhaustion. Wheezing and panting, Crash still punched. Punching, punching...punching...punching...no more. "YES!" Cortex did a little dance "I've won, I've won! I've beaten Crash Bandi-" Cortex stared wide eyed and jaw dropped as a light blue portal opened up beneath Crash's exhausted body. Crash disappeared along with the portal. Cortex fainted. Then another portal, this time, purple, opened up beneath Cortex, and sucked him up.

* * *

"We can't hold out much longer!" Taterazay yelled over the roaring wind and giants that tore through Earthend. The Patapon tribe had to stay though. It was their sworn duty to protect "It". The Earth Egg. But numbers were running thin, and Taterazay himself was beginning to lose hope. "Don't give up, Tate!" Ton yelled "Yeah, we're right behind you Chin yelled "We'll fight to the very end!" Kan added. Taterazay smiled. Not that you could see that, without a mouth. "Well, well" Taterazay gasped "Look who we have here, having a pep talk, Uberhero?" Ragewolf taunted. "But, you should-" "Things don't always go the way you want them to! Now, are you going to fight me or sit on your ass like a dope?" Ragewolf readied his claws. Taterazay felt his grip on sword and shield tighten. Clash! Ragewolf's claws bounced off Taterazay's shield. Taterazay opted to go in strong, with a sword slash to the thigh, he'd never see it coming. Taterazay swung with all his might, and the wind behind him, lodging the sword in the thigh of Ragewolf. Ragewolf hissed in pain. "Damn you! Uberhero!" Ragewolf launched himself at the Patapon leader. Taterazay had his shield up. But then he saw Ragewolf. Glowing a dark purple aura, nightmarish colour. Taterazay and his shield were blown through a home, collapsing down on Taterazay. Ton, Chin and Kan all rushed in to help. Ton swung a club at Ragewolf, Chin fired flaming arrows, and Kan rushed in, ready to impale the beast on horse back. Ragewolf jumped over the club and brought down his claws on Ton, then rolled out of the way of the flaming arrows. One of them pierced Kan's horse, causing Kan to fall off. Ragewolf caught a flaming arrow, straight out of the air. Chin gasped. Ragewolf threw it back. Whoosh! The arrow flew like a bullet, straight through Chin's right arm, not even slowing down. Ragewolf cracked his knuckles. Walking, slowly over to the rubble where Taterazay lay unconscious. His claws glistened in the wind. "I've been looking forward to this". Then a blue rock hit him on the head. Seriously, a blue rock. Taterazay woke up just in time to catch the rock and return to his fighting stance. "Thought I would let you have the satisfaction, eh wolfy?" Taterazay mocked. "I'm still going to kill you and all your pathetic soldiers!" Ragewolf yelled, flying back into battle. A blue portal opened up. It wanted Taterazay too. Badly, sucking him and his soldiers up, out of sight. "Well I'll be" Ragewolf muttered, not even caring to notice as a similar portal sucked him up too.

* * *

Poseidon bellowed "Face it Kratos! Mortals like you don't belong in Olympus!" Kratos gritted his teeth. "Such cowards don't deserve to be Gods either!" He retorted. "Feeling strong then? Let's see how you like this!" Kraots immediately felt a tidal wave sweep over him. But not any ordinary tidal wave, no this wasn't. Even by Olympus' standards, this was powerful, powerful enough to sweep Kratos away. The God of War was drowning. Every time he swam up, the wave moved higher. Kratos was determined, he swam faster and faster. But air became thinner and thinner. Kratos...blacked out.

Poseidon laughed. Kratos Hadn't since surfaced, and never would. He didn't know where this new found power had come from, but boy was it useful! But a single speck of light appeared in thin air. Out of the waters, Kratos rose. The portal sucked him through it and disappeared. Poseidon was shocked "What sorcery is this?!" He demanded to no one in particular. A purple portal appeared and sucked Poseidon through it.

* * *

Cloud panted. On his last legs. Everyone was dead. Aerith, Cid, Tifa, Barrett, all dead. Burning ruins surrounded the area where Sephiroth walked towards him. Cloud was gutted. He was so close to defeating Sephiroth, only to fall flat on his face, he didn't know what Sephiroth did, but it had to be the same power he had used to survive the meteor impact. Maybe that was the next step for Sephiroth. King of the world, by default. The man himself grabbed Cloud's arms and gently helped him up. Ever so gently and then, Cloud keeled over as he was kneed in the gut by Sephiroth. "Look at you! Pitiful!" Sephiroth laughed as Cloud reached for the Buster sword. "You really thought you could stop me? What made you think that?" Cloud crawled desperate to get to the Buster sword. "I wouldn't. It's that kind of idiotic thinking, that got your friends killed! All of them! It's all your fault! Everyone on the face of the damned planet, dead because of you!" Sephiroth berated him. "Go..To...Hell" Cloud spat weakly. "Aren't you tough?" Sephiroth taunted "Let's see how tough you are when I do this!" Sephiroth plunged his sword through Cloud's back, pinning him to the ground. Cloud gritted his teeth, trying to pull the sword out. "Please stop" Sephiroth sighed "This is just sad" Sephiroth turned away to gloat, when he heard a familiar sound. The Buster sword. "Still trying? Are we?" No answer. Sephiroth turned around. "Clou-" The Buster sword flew through the air. Then, the unthinkable happened. The Buster Sword, like a hot knife through butter, separating Cloud's right hand from the rest of his body. Time slowed down. Sephiroth stared in shock at the incomplete arm. His whole body trembling. He didn't even care as the Purple portal opened up and took him away. Cloud collected his Buster Sword and passed out. It was all too much for him to take. he blacked out and was whisked away quickly by the blue portal.

* * *

"Having fun, X?" Sigma laughed as the X buster fired harmless swats at him. "Come on, Come on" X kept on firing. "Why do you defend such a pathetic race? Your weapon is only a symbol of how weak they are" He laughed. However, his laughter was cut short when something hit him hard in the back. Sigma turned around to see Zero with the Z-Blade. "Cheap Shot!" Sigma yelled before firing at him. Zero sliced the shots in half and proceeded to land another deadly blow on Sigma, sending him flying. "This isn't over! Sigma yelled, before a purple portal teleported him away. X and Zero scratched their heads. What was that? "Hey wait, another one!" Zero pointed to the blue portal that had opened up. "Not good" X answered and fired Shotgun Ice at the portal. Swallowed. The portal then proceeded to suck up X and Zero.

* * *

The Egg Carrier towered over a city. Burning in the night sky, it looked kinda pretty. But not for Shadow. A mystery person had defeated everyone. Sonic. Knuckles. Eggman. Tails. Silver. Chaotix. Amy. Rouge. No one stood a chance. He seemed to move at the speed of light, but now, not moving at all, Shadow was at his mercy. His face still concealed by an unseen force, maybe that was the way he looked, but unlikely. "Even with all your friends, you still couldn't stop me" The voice spoke "I didn't expect the ultimate life form to be such a pushover" Shadow gritted his teeth "I'm..not done..yet" The voice laughed "Oh, really, what's your plan? I'm dying to know" It mocked. "ANNIHILATE!" A in incredible barrage of bombs flew towards the mystery powerhouse. He certainly wasn't expecting that, as one by one, they found their target. "GAH!" The voice sounded pained. Shadow wasted no time in getting a homing attack on the attacker. He fell off the egg carrier. Shadow looked over the edge and saw nothing but flames. He was gone alright. "Target Neutralized" The saviour of Shadow put away his guns. "Thanks, Omega" Shadow answered. The robot walked over to Shadow. "I have checked for the others. No life found on board" Shadow closed his eyes. "Who the hell was this guy?" He asked. "Scanners indicate the commander of the operation is none other than-" A strange beam of light smashed into Shadow's back, sending him sprawling. "Consider that a warning, Shadow." The hedgehog lay unconscious. "I will settle my dispute with you later, Omega" The person disappeared. Omega picked up Shadow. Omega then saw a blue dot on the Egg Carrier's landing deck. His scanners showed him lots of information. Enough to show that it was a portal, and enough to show that him and Shadow were being sucked in.

* * *

One by one, portals appeared in different worlds, hours after the mass destruction of civilisation. Where were they leading? Who knew? Why did they go there? Someone controlling them?


	3. Black Rock Beatdown

Waking up in the middle of a stadium was strange in its own way, but when you wake up in the middle of a stadium with 6 strange...things and you're all surrounded by cars that want to kill you. Maybe you should see a doctor. Such was the case for Nathan Drake who hid behind a crate with a 2D Dog, weird as it sounds. "Man, this is uncool!" The dog pouted "I know, but I don't think these trucks will stop to let us through." Nate murmured. BOOM! One of the trucks flew out of the stadium in a burning heap. "KANE! YOU IDIOT! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" The crazed clown laughed "Just having a little laugh, that's all!" John Marston pointed his revolver at Sweet Tooth. "I swear to God, if I ever see you doin' somethin' crazy like that again, Imma blow yer damn head off." Sweet Tooth made a mock salute to John. The cowboy walked out directly in front of a speeding vehicle. "Look Out!" The Hunter sliced the automobile in half with his scythe, leaving everyone unharmed. But the Marsupial still believed everyone to be in danger, running around screaming.

"What kind of automobiles are those?" John asked "I don't know what an automobile is, but these humans are crazy" The hunter responded. Cage seemed to be the leader, self nominated, if what else. "Okay, it's pretty obvious that whatever sent us here, knew what was happening in every one of our worlds." Nate agreed. "But why send us to shitty locations?" He asked. "Well, he doesn't have complete control over where you go" A voice answered. Seven heads turned to face the center of the stadium. A man stood there. He was wearing a business suit, plain dark grey. He had straight jet black hair that reached just past his shoulders, but he was no ordinary man. "Hello, Billy!" Sweet Tooth growled. "Ah, Marcus!" The man approached the group. "This is an unexpected surprise." "You know this guy?" Parrapa asked nervously "Yeah, him and I...don't get on well" Sweet Tooth's gaze never left the man. Sweet Tooth knew everything about this guy.

William Calypso. Founder and head of Calypso industries. God knows what they make, but in his spare time, William Calypso was something much darker. Host of the Twisted Metal tournament, where people all over the world competed to get to Calypso, often through 'Violent Conduct'. The prize for the winner was a wish. It could be anything, and Calypso would have to comply. Even if it meant he had to die, those were his rules. Kane remembered.

He stormed into Calypso's office. The man himself sat at a desk, writing, momentarily looking up to see who it was. He went back to his paperwork, unfazed by what he saw. Sweet Tooth walked up to the desk, but Calypso kept on writing. Sweet Tooth slammed his machete into his desk, earning another glance from Calypso. "Show me where she's been hiding all these years" Calypso ignored him. "NOW!" Kane yelled. Now, was when the creepy stuff happened. Calypso stood up. "Your wish is my command" He said. Something was odd right about now. Maybe his laughter, or the fact that corporate business men didn't usually glow red under any circumstances. The flashback ended.

"Thought you had me, didn't you?" Sweet Tooth asked. Calypso smiled. "Even I must admit, you had me fooled Mr. Kane. Faking death" Calypso smiled. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, there appears to be someone else who's quite good at that. Wouldn't that be so, Mr. Marston?" "Who told you that?" John asked, taken aback by the information. "Someone who you might know" Calypso laughed evilly. A man walked onto the scene. Dressed in a light gray business suit, and bowler hat, complete with a red tie. He was aging, and it showed in the wrinkles on his face and his grey hair. He was smoking a cigarette when he arrived. "John, how d'ya do?" Edgar Ross. The man responsible for the death of him. Literally responsible. "Well now, John. It appears we meet again, but here. Of all places. Quite strange, don't ya think?" John knew straight away what to do. He took out his cattleman revolver and shot Ross, straight through the ribcage, probably puncturing one of his lungs.

Now, if you or I, or any other person had been shot. We'd probably be hurt. Maybe Ross was hurt, but he certainly didn't show it, instead, he looked at the wound with disappointment written all over his face. "Why, that wasn't a very nice thing to do, now was it John?" "Fuck you" John spat. Calypso smiled. "Attention all Twisted Metal contestants! The first one to kill these vermin will be the winner of the Twisted Metal tournament!" The strange vehicles turned their attention to the all stars, and proceeded to all charge at once. Edgar Ross had obviously had an influence too. Government Agents, Military Soldiers, and Outlaws poured over the stadium walls and trained their guns on the all stars. Calypso and Edgar Ross laughed as Calypso teleported both of them away.

Nathan Drake had his weapons at the ready.

Johnny Cage flexed his muscles.

The Hunter sharpened his Scythe.

Sweet Tooth cocked his shotgun.

Parrapa cracked his knuckles.

John Marston whistled.

Crash readied his fists.

They weren't going to make this. They had been given 20 seconds to think of something. Any movement outside the vehicles that now surrounded them, or any attempt to jump the gun on offence would shorten the time. They huddled together, trying to think up of a solution between them. Why bother? All plans could just as easy blow up in their faces.

 _ **Author's Note**_

How will Johnny and his rag tag team get out of this predicament? Find out!


	4. Lost At Sea

Ellie groaned.

Everything looked strange upside-down. She was groggy and not in the mood for being disturbed. Someone should tell little boy blue that. He didn't seem to be listening.

X kept waving his hand in front of the girl. "Hello? Are you alright?" X was concerned for the girl, but he knew that she didn't require medical attention. "Come on, X! You've been at her for ages!" Zero complained. Omega was feeling the same. "I feel it is necessary to remind you that without 100% concentration, our mission will undoubtedly end with extreme failure" "But I can't just leave her!" "We've wasted enough time on the one over there." Shadow looked over at the other girl asleep in the hammock. Radec had tried, to be fair. But this bickering was so constant, he just had to take action. "Oh, for fuck's sake! Let me take care of things!" Radec grabbed a bucket, dipped it in the sea, using a long rope to hold in in the sea and bring it back up. He took the bucket of ice cold sea water, and threw it on the sleeping girl. That was enough to kickstart her engines. She fell to the floor, coughing and rubbing the water out of her eyes. "What the hell man?" She yelled accusingly.

Radec said nothing. "Hey, spaceman! I'm talking to you! What is your problem?!" Radec ignored the child. The child picked up the bucket and threw it at Radec. It collided with the back of his head, enough to make Zero laugh. Radec wasn't amused. He turned to the girl, and was ready to give her the beating of a lifetime until he heard something yell at him. A skeletal warrior ran into action, ready to defend the girl. He slipped on the wet floor and crashed into the nearest wall, sending his bones flying. Radec sighed. Sir Daniel Fortesque was the only person he knew on the boat trip.

It had been many years ago, when the ISA first tried to set foot on Helghan. The colonel had to get help, from somewhere. But there was a threat arising in a far off lands, so Radec had to go there instead. Daniel was the one who had made it furthest by some manner of miracle. Seriously, that was the only explanation he could think of in Dan's favour. He was no match for the hound of Visari. But, Radec, being an expert on war, knew he had heard that name somewhere before. He searched the history books in Autarch Visari's library, until he found a book entitled 'Gallowmere: A Forgotten Kingdom'. Radec had heard Daniel mention Gallowmere. He was appalled when he read it. "He was dragged into battle from his bed. Sir Daniel Fortesque was to command the king's army in the battle against the evil sorcerer, Zarok. Daniel was the first to die when an arrow struck his eye. Embarrassed and not wanting to make the people fearful of Zarok, The King told the Kingdom that Dan had died a hero's death in battle and built a tomb for his dead body." Something made Radec even more annoyed than the patheticness of his opponent. That was, if they ever had to be on the same mission together, Dan was in charge. Colonel Mael Radec. Commanding General Sir Daniel Fortesque. How the hell was Dan higher ranked than him? It wasn't as if the Helghan army had more power. Oh no. If the Helghans and the ISA put their heads together and tried against the Kingdom of Gallowmere, even with advanced tech, they'd still be flattened. Colonel Mael Radec had spent all his time from his earliest days, studying and working hard in school, to proving himself as the greatest soldier Helghan had to offer. Sir Daniel Fortesque had told the King of Gallowmere a few measy stories and he was given the highest role of honour in the kingdom.

"Come now, Daniel, this is no time to be playing around" Radec sighed.

Pupuru woke up. The last thing she remembered was almost being crushed by Gigadis. But then, she held up a strange rock, and was saved, or so she thought. Landing on a pirate ship like she had done wasn't fortunate, nor was being out cold. She decided to get up, and saw a group of people talking. A man in a red battle suit with long hair tied back in a ponytail, a man in a blue battle suit with a cannon for an arm, A skeletal Knight, a young girl about her age, if not slightly older. There was also a Hedgehog there, who caught Pupuru's eye. He didn't look like a normal Hedgehog. His fur was black and red, and he stood on two feet, like a human. "What do you think, Kuu?" "Kuuu" Kuu hissed at the hedgehog. It was definitely a guy. Pupuru mustered her courage and walked over. She felt as the eyes darted towards her. "Um, hi..I'm Pupuru" She said shyly. "State your address and Reason for being here" Pupuru came face to face with a stocky robot. He had the Omega symbol painted onto his shoulders. His face was covered by a yellow hood, but you could still see his red eyes. "Well...I live in a town in the middle of a forest, I don't know much about it. How did I get here? Well, I was walking through town one day, on my way to the local curry restaurant, when something hit me. I took it to the curry restaurant, but on my way, I saw a man called Gigadis, he destroyed the town, and was about to crush me. But then, the thing I found, it saved me!" Omega would have jumped by now. All forms of information were flashing on the screen, all with the same conclusion. "Permission to see this..item" Omega droned on. "Sure!" Pupuru seemed chirpy. "It-" "Who are you?" Radec leered at the girl. "Do not interfere while my investigation is in progress" Omega turned to the Colonel. "I will if needs be" Radec showed no fear.

Pupuru took a look at the man who accosted Omega. He was dark, very dark. He towered over even Omega. He showed no fear in facing the robot either. 'He will be tall, dark, harsh maybe even a lot older than you. But he is the one' Pupuru kept staring, as if the answer would be unlocked by staring. She had found love!

"Now anyway, who the hell do you think you are? Ordering me around?" Radec had taken out his Flamethrower. "Statistics show the chances of you emerging from this confrontation are minimal" Omega took out his Omega Guns. "I-I-I think I love you!" Pupuru jumped at Radec, catching him off guard. Radec fell to the floor, just as Omega opened fire. He then immediately stopped when he registered what he heard. "Does not compute" He visibly found it funny, just couldn't show it. Ellie, Zero and Dan found it to be the funniest thing they had ever heard. X and Shadow looked confused, that or they didn't care, either was likely. Radec frowned at the child, she was clearly delusional. Radec sighed "Quite clearly, you are mistaken, child" Radec tried to pry her off, but she had a firm grip. "What? No way! The spirits said so!" Pupuru clung to the legs of Radec. Radec sighed. "We are stooping quite low aren't we?" The Colonel shook Pupuru off his legs and stood up. "Which one of you made that joke?!" The Colonel demanded. No one answered. "Who was it? I'll fry them alive!" "Up here" On the shore nearby, there stood two men. Both had grey hair. The one more intriguing was the one with horns sticking out of his head like a minotaur or something, dressed in ridiculous attire. The one the comment came from however, was none other than the man with grey hair combed back, dressed in a Helghan uniform. Jorhan Staahl. Head of Staahl arms. "Staahl! I hope that wasn't you!" Staahl laughed. "But it was" The other man answered. "I hope you haven't been at my fiancé" Pupuru leaned out over the edge of the boat. "Gigadis!" She was shocked. "Pupuru, my darling! I hope this man hasn't been mean to you? Has he?"

"Go away!" Pupuru yelled "I have found my true love, and you're just jealous!" Radec was at boiling point. Anymore about the matter and he would snap. "Well, I shall best this man in the ring of champions, and see if he is worthy of being your lover then!" Gigadis proclaimed. That did it. Radec took out the Arc Cannon. "Give me that bloody thing you were on about" Radec said trying not to lose his temper anymore than he already had. Pupuru handed it to him without question. A light of yellow glistened. Radec jammed it in the barrel of the Arc Cannon. "Say one more thing, one more, I fucking dare you!" Radec yelled. "Your pathetic guns are no match against me!" Gigadis bellowed. Staahl was making signs with his hands to show that he had pushed all the wrong buttons. "Nonsense, no gun made by man can kill me!" Radec fired. The beam hit Gigadis like a ton of bricks. He flew backwards through a rock, leaving a Gigadis shaped hole in it. The beam continued for some while, until Radec was satisfied. "Open fire!" Staahl commanded. Helghast soldiers opened fire on the ship. Radec knew that these were rogue soldiers, no point in reasoning. Radec fired back with his Arc Cannon. The mountain exploded in a plethora of green and flames. X and Zero fired back, tearing holes in rocks too. Ellie was firing from her pistol at the soldiers and Pupuru fired curry bombs. "I've got you now!" Pupuru yelled while throwing a curry bomb at Staahl. He was done for, if not for the blast of Ice that froze the bomb. Wind then blew the bomb back in the direction it came from,crashing through the ship. "X, it's-" "Storm Eagle and Chill Penguin!" X finished Zero's sentence. "X, this is a surprise!" Storm Eagle mocked as he blew a gust with his wings, forcing the all stars back.

"Omega" Omega turned to Shadow "That 'thing'. Do you reckon it is-" "Affirmative" Omega confirmed. Shadow knew what he had to do. He grabbed the gun from the Colonel and took the yellow object out. "Hey! I need that!" The Colonel yelled "Not anymore" Shadow murmured. A yellow dot was approaching the ship, didn't have much time. "Chaos" Shadow concentrated. "What the hell?" Ellie stared in bewilderment. "CONTROL!" The All Stars teleported away just as a yellow dot crashed through the ship, and the cliff behind it. Causing a huge explosion.

Gigadis just got back to Staahl. "What happened?" He moaned groggily "Lots" Staahl responded "I can't believe it" Sigma growled "X again, and Zero" Storm Eagle and Chill Penguin were present, just not active in the conversation. "That blue nuisance keeps showin' up where I do an' I don't like it" Sigma continued "Gonna need all my Mavericks out on this job." "Why bother?" The mystery figure floated down. He wasn't very tall, but it was impossible to tell what he looked like. He was hiding something, for what reason? His own maybe. "If those idiots get any more chaos emeralds, then we may as well throw sticks and stones at them for all the good it will do." "Wha?" Sigma scratched his head "I don't get it, how can they be that powerful?" The figure had enough. "I'll show you" He grabbed one of the Helghast with one hand and threw him effortlessly into the air. "Storm, find him" Sigma ordered. Storm Eagle took off into the air at breakneck speed. Fifteen minutes passed. Storm Eagle finally returned. Empty handed, though. "I couldn't find him, boss. This guy threw him so hard, he's probably in another galaxy. Sigma believed him now.

"How did they get their hands on such potent energy?" Staahl asked "Probably, when I went through the portal. All the portals opened at the exact same time, so they could be anywhere. But...they are selective.." "What do you mean?" Gigadis asked. "The seven chaos emeralds are controlled by a larger, more powerful emerald. This is called the master emerald. The emeralds were created by a being called Chaos, hence the name. They all stored his unlimited power. A tribe of Echidnas who protected the emeralds feared that he could destroy everything with such power, and so he was sealed in the master emerald. But it appears chaos was selective. Sure, anyone who has 'selfish' or 'misguided' intentions can still use them, but only those who would idiotically put their lives on the line for something that still hates them can use the Emeralds to their fullest potential" The Figure explained. "So that explains why my darling Pupuru got one!" Gigadis went off to fairy land. "She is the one for me!" Chill Penguin froze him. "Take him back to HQ. We have a story to tell" Sigma ordered.


	5. Seattle Battle

Delsin stood on top of the space needle.

After everything, losing his brother, taking down the DUP, exposing the behind the scenes corruption. Why did he join them? Eugene was one hell of a negotiator, that was for sure. But life had been peaceful, many of the conduits who were set free followed Delsin's lead and joined the DUP. But this DUP was different. Not like the one before, only sprung up two weeks ago. The other DUP were still out there, but they were so small now that their numbers were insignificant."Should I tell them?" Delsin asked himself. It had been three weeks since he had journeyed to that strange place with the floating crystals. It wasn't like it was anything out of the ordinary, it was beyond the realms of insanity. Yeah, that would about sum it up. That was when his phone rang. "Hello?" "Yeah, Delsin?" It was Eugene "I need you and Fetch to go to CenturyLink Field, the Sounders are playing Barcelona, could be a risk of a terrorist attack" "On my way" Delsin hung up.

* * *

Messi found the bottom corner with ease. 3-1 Barcelona. He enjoyed these friendlies, excellent for getting back to the way things were run in this world. So many things had gone out of whack since those aliens showed up. But, he held them off with ease. Confidence? I think so. I think so very much. Anyway, not much left to go until half time. Just concentrate until then. Delsin watched intently. "Enjoyin' the view D?" Fetch landed on the roof beside him. Delsin smiled "I'll admit, it's pretty good". "What've you been up to lately?" Delsin asked "You know me, killing drug dealers, the usual" "Sounds more interesting than me anyway"

About ten minutes of nothing passed by and the referee blew his whistle. "Oh well, want to grab a snack?" Fetch asked. Delsin smiled "Sure"

* * *

Heihachi had beaten up about half the population of Seattle by this point. "All this is in vain" He said to himself "All these people claiming to be more powerful than they are, pathetic". Heihachi walked through the streets earning the occasional glance from anxious children and their parents. He was walking, as would, down the street, when he bumped shoulders with another man. "Do you mind?" Was the man's immediate reaction. Heihachi turned to him. He had short hair, wearing an overcoat with the Union Jack on either shoulder. He wore a white shirt, and baggy jeans. He had something on his back, a weapon of sorts, but Heihachi feared no weapon! "I beg your pardon?" Heihachi cracked his knuckles. "So you do mind" The man smiled. "Well, that's pretty bad, for you" He gestured at Heihachi with his sword. Heihachi scoffed "Typical coward, hiding behind weaponry rather than getting a job done yourself. I will show you the powers of Mishima Karate Fighting Style!" "Well, Mr. Mishima Karate, I'll show you what happens when I, Dante Sparda use my legendary, fire-gun-kill-guy tactic" Dante took out dual wield pistols. Heihachi readied himself. "Let's go!" Dante yelled

Dante opened fire with his pistols, leaving Heihachi to dash out of the way of them. Dante kept firing and Heihachi kept dodging. He knew it was only a matter of time before the police got here and some serious questions were asked. But now, Dante and Heihachi just fought on the pavement. Dante kept firing. BANG! BANG! BANG! Click. Dante froze. He had to reload. Exactly what Heihachi was waiting for. Heihachi leapt out with a roundhouse kick faster than Dante could anticipate, sending him to the floor. Dante tried to block the punches, but to no avail, this guy wasn't shitting when he said he was a martial artist. He kept on punching, not wasting a second of his time on top. That was until, Dante loaded his guns. Heihachi heard the sounds and retreated, waiting for the demon hunter to waste all his bullets again. Dante wasn't going to make that mistake, determined for revenge and pretty badly beaten up. Dante felt rage consume him. "DIE!" He yelled, lunging at Heihachi who hid behind an arcade. Dante destroyed the arcade. "Better start running" He giggled sinisterly. He raised his word to Heihachi, and slammed down. Or at least he tried.

"What?!" Dante looked behind him. A blond haired man with long hair, wearing a heavy trench coat and a cloak had held his sword back with his own. Dante turned his attention to this man instead. Seattle PD weren't ready for this, which is probably why they hadn't shown up yet, maybe calling in military reinforcements. Dante swung wildly at this man, who blocked with his shield and parried with his sword every time. Eventually Dante tired himself out, his swings were in vain, and he collapsed. The man walked off. Dante wasn't done. He jumped at the man, kicking him in the back with such force that he flew straight through a convenience store. Alucard found himself surrounded by bags of doritos and other goods scattered across the floor. Must've been the day off, no one here. But him and Dante. Alucard ran at Dante with sword in hand. The clash was close, he could almost feel it. CLASH! Alucard flew backwards. Dante did likewise. Something bigger and better had arrived in Seattle.

* * *

Hold on D, something's goin' on, a fight. Probably rogue conduits" Delsin looked up from the match. "Hang on, shouldn't we stay here, and get these people out?" Fetch considered. Delsin took action into his own hands, calling Eugene. "Eugene, I think we should stay here, make sure people get out" Eugene thought. "This is serious Delsin, I need you down a that fight. These people are dangerous!" Delsin wasn't taking no for an answer. "Look, they can't be that dangerous, just send a truck after them, if it doesn't work, I'll go do your work for you, fine?" "Fine" Eugene answered "Good luck" He hung up. Delsin and Fetch were soon on the field. Face to face with the one and only, Lionel Messi. He spoke in spanish, luckily Delsin had google translate to help him though. "What is the meaning of this?" He asked "Bit of a scrap...somewhere...I don't know, I don't get paid to ask questions, we just need you out of here." Messi scratched his head. The PA system was instructing people to leave in an organized fashion, even though there was little to no chance of that.

People began to pour out of the CenturyLink Field, as quickly as they had entered. "Look Out!" Fetch yelled. A bomb was dropped from a plane above, laughing was heard. "Shit" Delsin muttered. People scrambled over each other to get out, screaming and everything. But what happened next was really weird. Lionel Messi performed a bicycle kick, knocking the bomb back at the plane. However hard Messi kicked it, it was certainly hard enough. The bomb exploded on contact with the plane, sending it crashing just outside the stadium. A fiery explosion followed. Messi muttered something under his breath. "It must have something to do with that power" Google Translate helped. Delsin looked at Messi. "What kind of power?" Messi explained "I, one week ago, was selected to take part in a tournament at the request of an alien leader. I remember, beating Kobe Bryant in a fight, then, back here. But different. I found I was better at football; physically stronger, faster. I could not explain it, but these strange occurrences may have something to with it."

Delsin looked at Messi as if he offered him a million dollars. "Of course! It all kinda makes sense now, I think" Delsin remembered back. Of course leaving out the part where he found a conduit more powerful than him, one who defied gravity and kicked his ass. "I would like to test out this new-" Messi was cut off by a sound of thunder. They looked up and saw the sky turn crimson red. Out of it began to pour mysterious...aliens? It was hard to tell, but it wasn't good. Seattle PD had arrived at the CenturyLink Field, taking matters out of the three's hands. "Sure" Delsin gasped at the aliens pouring through the portals. "You can, go crazy"

* * *

Alucard woke up. The sky had turned a crimson red, mysterious creatures began to pour out. He had no doubt that it was his father responsible, but one thing managed to shake his suspicions; His father couldn't summon massive things like those capable of throwing cars around like dinkies. Or using them to kill the military and strange people with concrete and data flying from their hands. Alucard swiftly picked up his sword. He began to make short work of those creatures who got in his way, slicing through them like a hot knife through butter. The man called Dante had taken up arms against the aliens too, firing his guns through the beasts, sending many crashing to the floor.

"Heeeeya!" Heihachi roundhouse kicked the hulking brute through a laundromat. "Why has this happened? Who sends these beasts forth to wreak havoc on the world?" "That would be me!" A voice said. Heihachi turned to his nemesis. "Jin Kazama!" Heihachi smiled. "I should have figured you'd be trying to get me!" His Nemesis walked to towards him. "I see you've...had a facelift since we last met" Heihachi scoffed. "Better than you, horned beast" Heihachi did a double take. Jin only looked like this when...Devil Jin. He still retained all the features that he had as just Jin, but with clawed hands, Perfect to tear through bones. With wings, to outmanoeuvre anyone. With horns and clawed feet, to show people who they were dealing with. "No matter" Heihachi got pumped "I will still take you down, just as I always could!" Jin smiled.

Heihachi launched forward with a karate chop, being blocked by Jin's arm. The demon then tried to claw at Heihachi's face, but he ducked just in time. Realizing the effectiveness of his position, Heihachi performed a kick to the jaw, sending Jin reeling. Heihachi wasted no time, getting above his foe and dropping down on him with a scissors kick. Jin crashed face down to the floor. "I would have expected more from my very own nemesis!" Heihachi laughed, sending another punch to Jin's gut. "Ask...and...you will receive" Jin coughed out, sending a laser out to the feet of Heihachi. Heihachi jumped out of the way. "That's the Jin Kazama I know!" Heihachi laughed. "Don't hold back, I want to see you completely devoid when I'm done with you!"

* * *

Delsin, Fetch and Messi made their way to downtown Seattle. The fight was taking place on the outskirts of the city, but they needed to make sure people were getting away safely. They weren't. That wasn't even counting the military and DUP Soldiers who put up a stiff resistance, civilians were being picked up by the flying aliens and carried off far beyond Seattle. "Don't just stand there, do something!" One of the civilians yelled as he was scooped up by the flying alien. Delsin began firing smoke shots at some of the flying ones, while Fetch used her stasis bubbles to catch the people that they dropped. Messi had discovered that the ball he had was a boomerang, using it to daze the aliens. Then the soldiers and DUP were able to get a few easy kills on the aliens. To be fair, they did seem to show some care for Seattle (Aside from the cars) and had kept all the high-rise buildings from falling down, yes there were some fires on the street and it wasn't ship shape, but it wasn't bad considering.

"What's the situation?" Delsin asked one of the Military. "Full scale invasion, it isn't just Seattle, we've received word, our Military has failed in Chicago." Delsin looked at the screen the soldier produced. Chicago was much worse than Seattle. Much worse. The aliens were seemingly alone there, but small cries of gunfire and explosions suggested otherwise. "What can we do?" Delsin asked "Too late for that now, best we can do is protect Seattle" Delsin reluctantly nodded. "Fetch, Lionel; We should go to the outskirts, finally deal with that-" A sound of thunder cut him off. Maybe it was the aliens? There were certainly a lot here, and the storm wan't letting up. But it felt unnatural, more so than the aliens, like it was a single person controlling these ones. "D? You okay?" Delsin nodded "I'm sure there's someone here" He said. Messi and Fetch looked at each other "Probably burst a blood vessel thinkin' of that one, D" Fetch rolled her eyes. "That's not what I meant, a person, a conduit, here" Delsin looked up. A single bolt of electricity, blue. It stood out amongst the red and black, striking those who tried to find the source.

Were there any conduits who could do that? Certainly none of which Delsin knew. Wait. No, that was out of the question, he was long dead. Seven years. Cole MacGrath was dead.

But now he was alive.

* * *

Alucard and Dante still fought the aliens, while Heihachi tried to settle scores with his nemesis. "Why is this happening?!" Alucard yelled. "What have these people done wrong?!" "The same thing you did, my boy!" Alucard turned to the person who spoke. He wore a black overcoat, a black cape too, with the inside red. Everything he wore was black. The collar of the coat came up to his ears, but still not masking his pure white hair. He had a Goatee, pale skin and red eyes. Straight from the pages of Bram Stoker, Dracula. "Father?" Alucard looked at his father. "I killed you..." Alucard barely uttered the words. "Well, you killed much life, innocent life. It's all coming back to haunt you too now, isn't it?" Dracula towered over his son. Alucard took the opportunity to get a quick swing from the side in. Dracula grabbed the sharp end of the sword like it was a tennis ball, smiling as he held it to his surprised son. "You really didn't think I'd fall for something so cheap, did you?"He laughed "I'm used to tricks like those, no point in using them against me!" He was still laughing when the sword pierced his gut.

Dracula fell to the floor. Alucard looked up at the owner of the bloodstained sword. Wearing chainmail armour, but now completely covered. He had two swords on his back, but carried many gadgets and potions on his waist belt. White hair tied back in a ponytail exposed many ugly scars on his face, with catlike eyes. "You're welcome" The man said before turning to Dracula. "That...was p-p-pretty neat" Dracula staggered up. "But I'm not going d-d-down...without a fight!" The man said nothing as Dracula healed his wounds. "Specialising in Black magic, I presume? Untold evil? Y'know the bad kind?" He quizzed. Dracula was surprised "I'm impressed. You know, not many people know that. I think you would be a good opponent." The man asked "Which sword?". Dracula stopped. "What do you mean?" "I carry around two swords, one is for humans, the other; that one's for monsters" Dracula glared. "I wouldn't joke about such things" The man glared back "I wasn't joking" He remained with the silver sword he had used to stab Dracula with, still with his blood on it. Alucard simply resumed killing the aliens, assisting the military.

* * *

I stared at Dracula. Was I really so good that I could take down Dracula? Hope so. He opened the formalities, firing a few blasts of fire at me, nothing Igni couldn't counter. I fired back with my crossbow, only for him to snap the arrow in half. I wasn't going to lunge in, that was exactly what he wanted. But I was only going to kill him for sure if I got in close, so I prepared the Aard sign. Firing it was enough to daze him, as I went for his jugular, but he teleported. Luckily my Witcher senses kicked in and I was able to roll out of the way off another fire blast. We remained silent. This was a battle of wills, not a battle of who could cause more destruction to the surrounding area. I threw an Orion, which embedded itself in his shoulder. I thought that had done something, but it just seemed to make him angry. He summoned a bat cloud, it's screeching drawing ever closer, until I used Axii. The bats calmed down and flew off. He smiled and turned into a wolf, lunging at me. He tackled me to the ground, the fight turning into a tussle, as he bit down on my right arm. I ignored the pain and grabbed a grapeshot bomb, forcing it down his throat. The explosion was enough to dissect the wolf but Dracula still appeared, but visibly hurt.

"You're better than I thought, but better isn't good enough!" Dracula slammed a fire charged fist into the side of my face. He then picked me up and tossed me through a house. I landed on a coffee table, still with a small bit of time left with the smoke cloud. I was once again rescued by my Witcher senses, as he was charging a large fire blast. I looked around. I wasn't getting out of here alive, unless I found something. "What could I use? Bricks? No. That wouldn't do. Something that suppresses him..."

* * *

Dracula was almost ready. That creep would by history in five seconds. If only he knew what the real trickery was behind his mastery. But he couldn't. Someone as good hearted as him wasn't right to show. "Five, four, three, two,-" SLAM! Dracula was caught off guard by the coffee table that came smashing through the smoke cloud. "Damn..bigger ch-" He wasn't given time to finish the sentence. Geralt blasted him with Igni, burning his skin, forcing Dracula to turn away. He then followed up by slicing through his left leg, sending Dracula to the floor. The man was ready to strike, until Devil Jin tackled him to the ground. Dracula could heal, but Jin was going to have to keep him busy for a while. Heihachi ran towards Jin, seemingly unharmed. "Hold them off!" Dracula yelled to Jin, who's attention immediately turned to Heihachi. He smiled and whistled. Every alien within a mile of them heard the Whistle and came rushing in to kill.

Dante and Alucard heard the whistle too, and so were witnesses to the mass influx of aliens to the immediate area. "Here" Dante smiled "I'll take care of these aliens. You go take care of your Daddy issues" Alucard rolled his eyes, but continued towards Dracula. He was barely standing, but that was all he needed. "We will meet again my son" Dracula smiled "I sincerely hope you're ready" He teleported away, as if by magic (it was). "He's gone!" "Good" A voice answered. "Now I can continue my assault against these barbarians!" Alucard turned to the man. Looking more like a dragon wearing shining steel armour, one arm showed to reveal a large red clawed arm, fit for piercing skin. In the other, he held the most terrifying blade imaginable. Sharply rimmed, with a disgusting fleshy substance on the blunt side; not that a sword so massive could have one. But its most distinguishable feature was the eye in the middle, unmoving, but unearthly also. The man simply turned away and focused on the fight ensuing between the humans and the aliens.

The man seemed to poison the regular military soldiers just by being there. The DUP stood back and watched, not wanting to interfere with a powerhouse like this. They crumpled much to its pleasure. Those aliens were no welcome guests either. Flying ones crashed to the ground while the hulking brutes on the ground turned their heads to the nightmare. One of them let out a piercing screech, as a warcry. They all decided to gang up on the creature, charging and hollering with glee at the challenge. The creature remained unfazed, even as they began to viciously tear him limb from limb, or so it appeared. Within seconds, the aliens were set ablaze by an unknown force, forcing them to let off the unidentified creature howling in pain. The creature walked forwards, towards the centre of Seattle. "What the hell is that?" Alucard asked himself. Devil Jin rammed him into a wall while he was off guard, and then pursued the strange man.

Nightmare walked off towards the city of Seattle. Whatever chaos had ensued that he ended up in a world where he had no authority, or no enemies, no reputation, it was a mystery. But it wasn't all bad. No Ivy Valentine or Co. to bring him down. These humans were too weak to stand a chance against him, and he didn't have to fight with Siegfried. No SoulCalibur that could bring him down but no SoulCalibur to dominate the world with either. Those buffoons couldn't stop him. No one could.


	6. Chicago Chaos

Aiden had been to hell and back. What a nightmare. But it was all a dream, so back to Chicago. He was strolling through the streets of Chicago, close to the Merlaut. Aiden smiled as he remembered his glory days. Now just boring old Aiden. Aiden did like living here though, it really relieved a lot of stress. Being able to walk through crowded and vibrant streets at his doorstep. The Jay Pritzker Pavilion was crowded today, not something often seen. Aiden decided to check it out. Nothing else better to be doing.

"Wonder what's drawing all this attention?" Aiden asked himself, moving quietly through the crowds. A man in a pink Gi was on the stage flexing his muscles. He was spitting insults at an old man, who was probably a drug addict. He wore a robe covering the bottom half of his body only, with long grey hair and cloudy eyes. "Fool! Kneel before me!" The old man yelled, electricity sparking from his hands. "I hope you're ready for a beating!" The other guy cracked his knuckles. "DAN-KUAKYAKU!" The guy yelled, jumping into the air and tried to kick the old man. He almost ricocheted off the old man, crying, holding his foot. The crowds murmured amongst each other, some teens uploading the footage on their phones, others laughing.

Then things started to get weird. A woman flew out of nowhere and kicked the old man in the back, sending him to the floor. But she actually flew. Like, y'know without cheap tricks, genuine flying! The crowd oohed and aahed at the spectacle. Then everything went downhill from there. The enraged man shot lightning from his hands, not cheap effects, but genuine lightning with a massive explosion that tore a hole in the roof of the Pavilion. Everyone ran for their lives. People who were pushing over each other to be first were now scrambling to be last left in the wake of the monsters. Aiden flew into action. He grabbed his M1911 and took cover behind a chunk of the Pavilion. He poked out and fired shots.

The man in the pink Gi was the first one to take cover, running behind cover, trying to console himself, the bullets found their way to the woman and the old man, because they both keeled over. "Now" Aiden threw a proximity IED and waited. BOOM! The IED went off like a firework, in their faces. Aiden was on the phone quicker than you could say "Jordi, fast car, now!". Of course, the dealer complied and Aiden found his new car parked neatly on the nearest road to the Pavilion. The car engine revved. "Alright, catch me if you can!" The car sped off, ahead of the old man who had turned into an eagle and the flying woman.

Aiden looked to the passenger seat, and saw a pure black creature. He looked again. This day just kept on getting weirder. "Um...Hi" The thing said. Sentient too. "How are ya?" Aiden asked, swerving to avoid Chicago PD who were evacuating people from the district. "Thanks for letting me tag along, but I've got beef with those people back there too, me and my men would be happy to help with them" Aiden looked in the back seat, and sure enough, there were three black creatures back there too. "Seriously, who the hell are you?" Aiden asked, riding off a drawbridge. "Name's Taterazay. Those in the back are Ton, Chin and Kan, my soldiers, together we are the Patapon army!" The three in the back made a funny noise along with Taterazay. "Sorry" He apologized "They can't speak English." Aiden shrugged it off, and checked his rear view mirrors. Nothing. Well, there were the two flying people. They were closing in. Then the old man, or as he was, an eagle, flew straight into a building with an arrow jutting out of his stomach. One of the little fellows had stood up on the roof of the car and shot an arrow through the crazed powerhouse.

He hopped back into the car through the sunroof. The one who had shot spoke to Taterazay in his native tongue. Taterazay spoke back. "He says he's out of ammo" Taterazay explained. Aiden knew what to do. "Can you drive?" Taterazay scratched his head. He didn't know what driving was, let alone how it was done. But nonetheless, he called for Ton, Chin and Kan. Who together made a half baked attempt at driving. Aiden already had an RPG out and slowly took aim at the woman. Fired! The RPG flew straight at her. It would kill anything in its path, except her. She appeared to use her black magic trickery to catch the RPG in mid air. Now, not with her hands, which would've been weird enough, but with pure force, manipulating gravity, it seemed. The missile flew back at Aiden. "Step on it!" He yelled. Taterazay had other ideas. He swerved to avoid the missile, but Aiden, still half out of the car, was tossed onto the roads. He felt that. Skidding off tarmac and luckily landing back against some wooden planks in an alleyway. Aiden blacked out.

* * *

Sacrifice had no idea where he was, or why there were people shooting him with paper pellets at him. But this was strange. He looked at the blue and red swirls encircling his palms. He knew what they thought of him. But he wasn't going to fight. Too many good people had died without reason. He walked towards the police and surrendered. No more killing. What he had seen, no, that didn't deserve to happen to anyone, being forced to witness everything slowly destroyed. "Sir! You are under arrest!" One of the officers put him in handcuffs and told him his rights. Sacrifice sighed as he was forced into the car along with a four strange looking creatures, who caught his eye. "Where are we going, dear sir?" Sacrifice asked. The officer laughed "Where do you think?" Sacrifice sighed, no answers yet..

* * *

"A powerade, please" Dan moaned. He had had quite a day, with explosions and flying people, and thunder and guns and cars and everything! He gulped down the powerade in one go before walking through the streets again. Dan watched as police waved away spectators as the old man and flying woman were detained by the police. Dan spent the next part of a good fifteen minutes trying to figure out how such powerful individuals could be detained by the police. Dan laughed at that. The police could catch just about anybody except for him! Proving how great he was, yeah! That's the spirit! "Oh man, Dan, you really underestimate yourself" He said to himself. "I could take on anyone right now!"

* * *

Aiden woke up. He checked himself for any open wounds, but they were probably concealed by his trench coat. So he took off the trench coat, some blood stains, but nothing serious. "all right, lucky break" Aiden murmured. "Just then his phone rang. "Hello?" Aiden answered the phone "Hey Aiden" Jordi Chin. "What?" Aiden asked "You should go inside right now. I've been watching the news, they say something weird's goin' on over Chicago, like a natural Phenomenon of sorts" Aiden was confused "Sure it isn't a hoax?" Aiden asked "Positive. I'll send you pictures" Sure enough they were real pictures. Aiden looked into the sky. It matched. Murky red and black, lightning strikes above the clouds, but no thunder follows. "Okay...Thanks Jordi" Aiden hung up. Luckily there was a safety container nearby, so he could take shelter there. Aiden opened the door and closed it quickly. He turned on the TV to see what was going on. What was on his bed, asleep was even more amazing, Dan Hibiki. Only thanks to his phone did Aiden know his name, but he definitely was going to remember Dan for his actions.

He was a coward, self proclaimed world renowned martial artist. Founder of the Hibiki dojo in Hong Kong, infamous creator of the Saikyo arts. So much he didn't know. But that wasn't important. Aiden's attention turned to the TV.

People had left their cars. The army were there fighting off alien invaders. What the hell had happened? How had it all gone to hell under his nose? Aiden studied these guys. Violet blobs with small glowing spots, each with its own distinctive features, demolishing buildings. These black alien things were throwing cars around like delusional children, crushing soldiers with their bare fists. he camera went static, then back to the news room. "Oh man, that looked pretty bad" Dan said. He had woken up in time for the news broadcast.

"We're going out there" Aiden said "WHAT?!" Dan exclaimed "We can't go out there! There's Aliens and the Military and who knows what else, We're gonna die out there!" Dan babbled. Aiden grabbed him firmly by both shoulders. "Look. We're gonna die anyway. We need to make the most of our limited time here, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna go down fighting!" Dan stood there as Aiden opened the door to the container. He stepped out with him. "I guess you're right! If you're gonna go out fighting, then I'm going to do the same!" Aiden smiled, let's get going then"

The Central Business District had gone to hell. Aiden took out his LMG. "Okay, do what you can to fight these dudes, distract them, anything" Dan immediately ran out like an idiot into a mine field of Aliens like an idiot, berating them as he passed. "Woo-Hoo! I'm Awesome! Don't underestimate me!" Were some taunts. Aiden fired at the car throwing ones, watching as they groaned and fell to the floor. Then there were the violet ones. Aiden saw the glowing purple spots and took aim. They were crippled, one by one. Aiden took out his pistol and then fired at the final three big ones. A car was thrown his way in retaliation, Aided then placed a shot between his eyes and that made two to go. Aiden fired two more shots, wounding one and killing the other. Aiden let rage take over. He ran at the last alien, screaming in rage. With his truncheon out, ready to bludgeon the alien to death. The baton struck through the eye of the creature, who bellowed in pain. But Aiden wanted to finish the job, so he did. And there it was. His few seconds of peace. A river separated him and the nearest Aliens, who were fighting soldiers. The drawbridge was raised, and so Aiden was on his own.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" A voice said. Aiden turned to the voice. It was definitely an alien, like the black ones. But he wore rich robes and and Jewelery. "'You the guy responsible?" "Not exactly, Aiden." The alien responded. "What does that mean?" "I can't say Aiden. But you...deserve to know." Aiden fired through the alien. The bullet passed right through the alien. "A hologram.." Aiden muttered. "Correct. Remember the name. Black Doom. Good luck Aiden, you'll need it" The Hologram disappeared "Weird" Aiden said. He loaded his guns, before something crashed down before him. It was the flying woman. She stared at him. It was filled with rage, but empty rage. Like, rage with nothing to back it up, completely helpless. "You...You..are...more than meets the eye, aren't you?" She collapsed. Aiden looked a the unconscious body, passed out from fighting the aliens. Where was the other one?

There he was, being knocked around like nothing, against a man, with a beard, and brown hair, he looked like the old man, but younger. He was attacking the old man with a trident, countering his punches with blasts of water, electricity being countered by ice. Wait. Hang on. Memories of a history class flooded back to him. Wasn't there someone who could do that? Poseidon wasn't it? The Old Man confirmed by cursing his name. "Do you really think I still bow down to you, Zeus?" Poseidon asked laughing at his brother's pitiful state. "Nonsense!" Poseidon slammed Zeus through a skyscraper, sending it crashing to the ground. Aiden took the woman back to the container, now shielded by rubble from a falling building, in turn, the container kept the remains held up slightly. That was when a car pulled up beside Aiden, out of the flames, chaos and rubble. "Get in!" The voice commanded. Aiden didn't question. He got in and the car took off.

* * *

Ton, Kan and Taterazay sliced their ways through the Alien hordes while Chin fired his bow into the sky, bringing the Aliens down a peg. "We are having quite a day boys!" Taterazay yelled over the yells of the horde and fighting below. "We..We might be turning the tide in our favour!" Ton yelled back. The Patapons cheered as they sliced through the numbers of the horde. Oh how everyone wished that was the way. But it never is that easy, is it? "LOOK OUT!" Kan yelled as a meteor smashed through the building they stood on.

* * *

Sacrifice looked over to the building that went down in a pile of rubble. He had to keep going. Firing shrapnels through the hearts of the beasts. He made it look so easy, smashing them down with single swipes of his rock arms, axes plunges through dozens at a time. But there was no telling how many were through that portal. As long as he kept saving those souls though, he would be able to keep going. "Wow" A voice said. "You really have gotten good at this" Sacrifice turned to the voices owner. He wished he hadn't. A man stood there with deathly pale skin, it would have put Voldemort to shame. He wore a strange garment, made from something looking like cobwebs, with eyes decorating it. He was definitely a sorcerer. But not just any old sorcerer. Magusar. "Hello, dear boy" He said in a sinister voice that oozed of bad feeling. "I should have known this was your doing!" Sacrifice yelled "Now prepare to die once more!" Magusar laughed "But, this isn't my handiwork" Sacrifice paused. "Well then, who's is it?" Magusar smiled. "I had help" A torpedo slammed into the side of Sacrifice knocking him off balance and into the next building. Madfang Ragewolf stepped back to admire the destruction. "We done here yet?" He asked "You will be!" A voice cried out. Taterazay! "How the hell are you still alive?" Ragewolf slammed his clawed fist into the ground. "I should ask you that!" Taterazay snapped as his men stood behind him. "I'm not going to lie down while you're still standing!" Ragewolf yelled "You took everything from me! My friends! My reputation! My Hope! My Dreams! And My Life! You think I'm gonna keel over for you?!" Ragewolf started to glow purple "DIE ASSHOLE!" Ragewolf launched himself at Taterazay like a Torpedo.

Taterazay took a look at the Aqua Blue crystal in his hand. "I hope you're worth it" He said. He tried to concentrate as time slowed down. He felt it. It was...bliss. The power was almost too much, but Taterazay allowed it to overcome him. He felt his appearance change. Black skin was replaced by magma red, his Orange visor replaced by lightning yellow. "BRING IT RAGEWOLF!" Taterazay yelled. The Clash of sword and claws broke the sound barrier, sending soldiers and Aliens alike sprawling, along with the Chicago skyline. Taterazay jumped over Ragewolf, who kept charging ahead in the Torpedo fashion. That was when the nearest building fell on him. But that didn't stop him. He emerged seconds later, swiftly getting into his fighting pose. Taterazay charged in this time, swinging his sword around like there was no tomorrow.

* * *

Damien Brenks. How had that name slipped his mind? Damien Brenks was Aiden's former partner in crime, he was the one who did the hard work, while Aiden got his hands dirty. But of course, Aiden left Damien after realising the risk it put his family in. Damien then became an enemy, until he became dead after falling off the lighthouse, while Aiden miraculously survived. "How did you survive?" Aiden asked "A lot of work. You made it difficult for me Aiden, not difficult enough though..." Damien smiled "Can you believe what's happening? World went to shit in a few minutes" Aiden's heart skipped a beat. "The world?" Aiden couldn't believe his ears "Yeah, all cities, everywhere, all going to hell" "These guys..I have a hunch they've been organised" Damien turned around to Aiden "What? That's impossible" Aiden shook his head "No..some guy called Black Doom. Wished me luck, saying I'd need it" The woman, who was called Kat, apparently spoke up "Those Nevi, I've fought them before. It's possible that they were being organised by such an entity." "What kind of place are you from, seeing things like that?" Damien asked "A world different to this, a floating city" Damien laughed "Woah! That is it! I've heard and seen a lot of weird shit by now, but this takes the biscuit."Floating cities" He laughed.

The car passed through a surprisingly unharmed tunnel, roads littered with abandoned cars. There were even some people huddled together in little clusters, trying to convince each other that this was all a dream, and that they would wake up. The sky wouldn't be murky red, their world as they knew it wasn't coming to an end. But it was, that was the harsh reality.

* * *

Sacrifice slammed his fists into Magusar, who effortlessly shook them off. "Still, you don't have the power to defeat me" Magusar tutted "I'm disappointed, but I must be on my way" Magusar landed a single punch to the face of Sacrifice, sending him down a long stretch of road. Magusar looked up at the sudden rumbling. The train was approaching. Magusar scratched his head. "Odd. I thought that train would be out of service by now?" Magusar mused. He looked to see if Sacrifice was coming back. He wasn't. But something else had. The stuff of nightmares. Magusar froze when he saw it. A hulking brute, who wore an apron around his waist, stained with grime, blood and everything else imaginable. He wielded a sword, unlike any other. It was twice the size of Magusar, at minimum, and the strange oddity picked it up with ease. But his most distinguishable feature was his head. Oh, his fucking head. A giant steel Pyramid rested between his shoulders, sitting perfectly in place. The creature grunted at the frozen Magusar, and then sliced through the monorail support. Now, wha was that going to do? The track made a creaking sound as it fell, Magusar turned to run as the track threatened to swallow him, but it stopped at his feet. "Close, but no-" WWWHHHHAAARRRRR!" The train slammed into Magusar, flattening him beneath its weight. Who the hell was that fucking Pyramid Head?


	7. Invasion Intrigue

_New Vekta City 27/5/2368 5:30pm_

Well, he didn't know how, but Arran Danner and war had met again. But war had gotten tired of waiting for Danner, and so decided to bring the party to him.

He fired the VCR through the wall of a collapsing skyscraper on the Vektan Skyline. Some Helghast had opened fire earlier in the afternoon, but they had opened fire on their own kind, proving they didn't have rulers. They used weapons far beyond the comprehension of both sides. Rounded up civilians like cattle, tried not to kill. Maybe some human trafficking ring? No. Too big to be that. But how had it all gone to hell so fast?

* * *

 _New Vekta City 26/5/2368 11:43am_

So, just sitting at home. Pretty much 43% of what I did. Arran Danner. I never forgot my own name, no one ever let it slip. The VSA and Helghast have it out for me. Having said that, things have died down a bit after thirty years, so I returned from Stasis, I have to take BlackJack's word for it. BlackJack, is my only friend in this hellhole. An arms dealer from Kazakhstan, BlackJack was in the top 1% of smartest human beings alive. He had an honours degree in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Law & Order, Technology & Engineering, but most importantly, Finance. BlackJack didn't play by anyone's rules though. So he entered the Black Market. He had many customers over the years, but I, I was special. I was probably his only friend too. He was like, sixty years old now, or something like that. BlackJack didn't take vacations. Even if everyone else did, and there was no business, BlackJack was open 24/7. His Tech and Engineering came in handy too. He was able to build teleporters, for getting his weapons to where they were needed instantly, and other gadgets, for combat and browsing experience. He built indestructible shields, so customers could browse in peace and safety. BlackJack had taken me off the radar, and done so much more. He was a genius. But BlackJack was retired now, and so all he did was occasionally help me. I still don't know a lot about him, to be honest, where he lives, what his real name was, anything about his upbringing, nope. Nothing.

But anyway, so I was just sitting there, watching the football. The fourth quarter, one second left on the play clock, the quarterback threw a hail mary pass. The ball flew towards the end zone, then...the TV went off. Needless to say, I was pretty pissed. So I checked that a fuse hadn't blown, it hadn't. "Hey, BlackJack, have they cut the power to my block?" BlackJack went for a few minutes to check. Leaving me standing in the dark. I lived in an apartment block, nice apartments mind you, but there was only one window and it was cloudy outside for whatever reason, so I was left waiting. That was when I heard a knock at the door.

I opened the door to find someone strange standing there. He was wearing a grey one piece business suit, with a red tie. He had jet black hair that reached just past his shoulders, and a long ugly scar on his face. It started below his right eye and went down to his chin. "You uh...need something for that?" I asked, pointing to the scar. The man shook his head. "I require your assistance, Arran Danner" My heart skipped a beat. "How do you know my name?" I demanded. He smiled "Relax, Im not here to arrest you" I narrowed my eyes. "Well, then, get talking...eh" "Calypso" He answered "William Calypso". I made a mental note to remember that name. "Alriiiiight...I don't suppose you work for charity then?" He laughed a little at that one "No, no. But there is something along the lines of non-profit" He had my attention now. "I would like to make, a little speech in Templar Park. I'm afraid there's a storm coming, and I'm just doing what I can to ensure that we are all prepared for it." I didn't like this guy. Let alone the fact that he was probably crazy, but it was the way he was phrasing everything. 'A little speech' It wasn't anything like a speech. But, I had to play along. This guy hadn't show up alone, if I refused I'd probably be gunned down.

Okay, I over-exaggerated that. But it was gut instinct, this guy needed someone to keep him under lock and key. "What's in it for me?" Calypso smiled. "Anything you desire" I scoffed. "Okay, I'll play along, just tell me what you wanna do" Calypso smiled "Excellent. Just walk outside the the apartment block, and you will find the Commander." He disappeared. No, like really, poof! Just like that, in front of my very own eyes! What the hell? "They haven't cut off your power." Blackjack finally returned. "Ok. I need everything you have on William Calypso." I seemed to say it all as one word. "The William Calypso?" BlackJack asked "Yeah, Black Hair, real creepy, master of teleportation and weird shit, y'know, smoke n' mirrors." BlackJack was gone again, but back almost instantly. "I'm glad you asked." BlackJack smiled. "There's a lot about him you don't know."

* * *

 _New Vekta City 24/5/2368 5:00pm_

"How the hell did I get here?" Kobe Bryant asked himself. One minute, LA was being destroyed by aliens, the next, here. He had however, become acquainted with CJ. A person who had a similar experience to his. "So, how do you reckon we're gonna get home?" Kobe asked "Why would ya wanna go there?" CJ asked "It's hell back there!" "Touché" Kobe muttered. "Let's just try and find someone who can help us" Kobe suggested. So the next four hours were spent racing around Vekta City, asking around. Many people believed them to be insane. Some even tried to report them to the police. Things seemed about as straight forward as a cow's digestive system. It was like, 9:30, sun was starting to go down, and it looked like many people were heading home. But at the same time, many stayed out. "Best find somewhere to sleep for the night" CJ suggested, as the two walked into an alleyway. They heard muffled sobs, and saw a group of teens beating up a child. "Still think you're gonna snitch on us?" One of them jeered. "You want your mommy?" Another joined in. CJ felt his arms shaking. "These assholes are dead" He muttered underneath his breath. He took out an MG, and advanced towards the crooks.

"Hey! Pick on someone your own size, shithead!" CJ yelled at the crooks. They couldn't have been older than 20. "What's it to you?" One of them asked. "It's everyone's business, when you go around, beating up children, you sick fuck" CJ growled. Guns cocked behind them. CJ and Kobe realized they were surrounded. But Kobe and CJ knew that they had to try. That little boy wasn't going to get away if they just stood there. CJ had guns, but what did Kobe have? His Basketball? Kobe looked at the ball in his hands, may as well. The leader read Kobe's mind. He started laughing "No way! Hey fellas, get this! He's gonna basketball us to death!" The entire group started laughing. "Are ya gonna slam dunk us?" Another asked "He's gonna score more points than us!" Another guffawed. Kobe felt his grip on the ball intensify. He didn't care if it got him killed. This asshole needed to be taught a lesson. He threw the ball as hard as he could, straight at the leader's prized possessions. What happened next, was nothing short of miraculous.

The ball hit the man with such force, it knocked some of his teeth out, without traveling any further upwards than Kobe had intended. He was forced back into a set of pipes, a soft moan of pain escaping his lips. The ball flew backwards, hitting three of the bandits at once. CJ took advantage of the shock by shooting the remaining six. None of them died, none of them uttered a word. What the hell had happened? The young boy took out his mobile and dialed for the police. "Pretty good shooting there, CJ" CJ stood there with his mouth agape in awe. "What?! I was good? You were..insane! I've never seen anything like that, I mean...just...wow"

Shortly, the police were on the scene. Sure enough, the criminals protested their innocence. But to no avail. The Sergeant approached them. "Gentlemen, you have proved invaluable in your assistance. There must be something we can do for you in return. Kobe and CJ looked at each other. "Well, there is one thing"

* * *

 _New Helghan 27/5/2368 3:00pm_

I told Hale he could go to hell before I surrendered to him, the likes of him were the reason humanity were inferior to the Chimera. We had much more advanced tech, were better built to fight, with our claws and acids. Although, to be fair, Nathan Hale is everything between us and humanity. And if the orange eyed mutants wanted to kill both Hale and I, then so be it. I would have to team up with him. I fired the bullseye, those creeps were powerless against its lock-on technology. Hale was picking off the ones that got too close. "I don't know about you, but I think they wanna make this fun for me!" He yelled over the gunfire. I roared in agreement. They had enough of us, firing a large beam of energy at the shack we were holed up in. We barely got out with our lives, but there were plenty of debris chunks and stalls to take cover behind. To be fair, a lot of the weapons we had could have been matched by theirs, but we had the edge in variety. Not everything just shot bullets in my arsenal, or Hale's.

He retaliated with his Pulse Cannon, tearing through the cover of the bastards, and tearing through them as well. More of those yellow eyed creeps were showing up, but they had the same enemy as Hale and Myself. "For Helghan!" I heard one yell. Those 'Helghan People' were an organised bunch. They tore down the traitors within seconds. But they still raised their guns to us, as they had the last of the traitors rounded up. "State your identity" The man demanded. "Nathan Hale" Hale answered. I was incapable of speaking English. As Hale explained. "Alright then, I'm afraid we're going to have to run a few tests on you then" The man spoke to me.

So the next few hours I spent were hooked up to machines or something of the sort, or with biologists, who poked around my body. It wasn't anything torturous like that. "Okay, just write your name on this sheet of paper here" One of the Scientists handed me the paper. I thought for a moment. Names had been needless for me, up until now. I just wrote 'Chimera Hybrid' on the paper and handed it back to the Scientist.

"What are we going to do about the people on the other side of the wall?" I heard the soldiers talking. "We could send those three over" Another answered "They're obviously better than us, we can learn a lot about the invaders from this" I was a bit unhappy that they were sending me into battle again, but I didn't really have a choice. They were my commanding officers now.

* * *

 _New Vekta City 26/5/2368 1:30pm_

"I see.." The Sergeant mused "You come from earth, but 350 years ago. Aliens were attacking your city, and a man called Sephiroth was responsible for commanding the attack. You claim to have been brought here by mysterious portals." Kobe and CJ nodded. The Sergeant seemed sceptical. "Okay...I'll have to have all of this processed, bu-" That was when the phone on the desk rang. "Hello? Oh? Okay, I'll be right there" He hung up. "Okay, I'll be back shortly, just gotta deal with some protesters down in Templar Park." He grabbed his car keys and a robotic drone, who followed him out of his office. "Name's Kellan, by the way. Lucas Kellan"

Lucas arrived at Templar park. There was a large crowd of bystanders. The Vektan PD, had arrived on the scene, turning heads. "Okay people, nothing to see here get a move on!" Kellan shouted through the Megaphone. But the VSA were already here. "It's okay, we've got this under control." One of the soldiers said. But Kellan and the PD stayed. "My friends" The Leader said. "I speak today, against the Tyranny of the VSA and Helghast armies" This earned a few gasps from the audience. "They create nothing but negativity on this otherwise perfect planet" He continued "Discrimination, Poverty, Death, War!" The Audience was silent. "But there is hope yet, join me, and we shall triumph!" "You're crazy!" One of the audience shouted out. "Yeah!" "The VSA keep us safe!" The Leader was being booed. He didn't seem to care though. He just walked off the stage. "You are all fools for doubting me!" He spoke. "You will soon beg for your lives!" And like that, he disappeared. Everyone was silent. This could mean trouble.

A soldier walked off the stage towards Lucas and the PD. "Can I speak to you in private?" He asked Kellan. Kellan agreed. "These soldiers here, they're not real soldiers." Kellan looked suspiciously at the man. "They're being controlled by Jorhan Staahl" Kellan looked in disbelief at the man. "Come with me"

* * *

 _New Vekta City 26/5/2368 12:00pm_

"Ah yes, William Sparks has an entire library of files. He was able to successfully destroy most of them, but I was able to recover them" BlackJack explained. "William Sparks was born in 1943, in Lawton, Oklahoma. William had an average childhood, and married at age 20 to Mable Sparks, together they had a daughter, Krista Sparks, in 1965. William began to suffer from depression around this time, and so took up a career as a stunt driver, in desperate attempt to get killed. But Calypso was quite skilled in Stunt driving, and so took the stage name Calypso, due to his deceptive appearance. He and his family eventually took the surname Calypso. In 1980, William Calypso drove his car into a wall, killing his daughter and permanently burning his face off. He slipped into a coma, for 14 years, before being pronounced dead on Friday the 13th, May 1994. But, mysteriously, he reappeared in 2005, founding his own company, Calypso Industries, a multi billionaire company and has had been involved in a few controversies, most notoriously allegedly hosting the Twisted Metal tournament, a vehicular combat tournament where psychopaths from around the world wrecked havoc on good cities, killing innocents and each other."

Danner laughed "Hang on, what do you mean, 'Allegedly'? He either did or didn't, wouldn't it be pretty obvious like, if there was mass murder left right and centre, wouldn't people know it was him and kill him after the first one?" BlackJack got to the point "Well, here's the interesting part. There would be protestors, obviously, if this was real. A lot of protestors. But there are very few records of people who have actively protested against the tournament. Of those few records, many of those people have mysteriously disappeared. No one knows where they went." "Anyone notorious?" "One" BlackJack responded "Jebediah Burns. A preacher who believed Calypso to be something...darker." "What?" "Well, that's all I have, maybe something like mistreating employees or Sadism. Is strange, no?"

* * *

 _New Helghan 27/5/2368 8:00pm_

The Chimera Hybrid and Nathan Hale stood in the commanding tent, somewhere between New Helghan and New Vekta. "Okay, the third soldier is on his way." Hale was still pressing for answers "So what are you doing?" We're sending you on a rescue mission, you're the only people we trust to get this done, and done right" Hale rolled his eyes "Whatever" "Alright, I'm ready" Hale and Chimera turned to the third link. He wore a purple overall, with a slight bit of armour on his torso, including spiked shoulder pads. He had weird blond spiky hair, and wielded a ridiculously large sword. "Cloud Strife reporting for duty sir"


	8. Chicago Chaos Pt2

Taterazay walked towards his fallen foe. Ragewolf was struggling to stand up. Taterazay still looked awesome, Magma red skin, lightning yellow visor. "Had enough?" Taterazay asked. Ragewolf laughed. "You...You...think..you've won?" Ragewolf coughed up blood and laughed "Insolent..little shit" Taterazay readied his sword. "Do you think..Magusar and I would show up...alone?" Taterazay looked over at the sorcerer. Crushed by the monorail. Not dead, but good as. Sacrifice was nowhere to be seen."Poseidon, Black Doom, many more are waiting, for their chance to crush you like the little bug you are..." "Do you think I'm just going to kill you?" Taterazay smiled "Well...what do you want?"

Taterazay had enough. "What the fuck do you think I want?! Answers! Why is this happening? Who are these people? Who are you working for? Seriously, how stupid do you think I am?!" Taterazay yelled at Ragewolf. "Tell me what's going on!" "Piss off!" Ragewolf retorted "When will you be happy? You monster! You'll hear nothing out of me!"Taterazay poked his sword at Ragewolf's neck "I wouldn't bet, now are you going to -" Taterazay stopped. Ragewolf had gone pale, like he'd seen a ghost. "Th-th-tha-aa-a" He pointed shakily at Taterazay. Taterazay looked at his sword. "Yeah! You'd better fear this!" "I'll talk, I'll talk! Get that thing away!" Taterazay laughed "Not until you start talk- Hey! Cut it out!" He yelled as something grabbed him by his ponytail and swung him around, letting him fly a few feet away.

He had his face on the ground, and the power of the emerald faded, but he could still hear Ragewolf screaming, before a grotesque 'Sloch!" Implying that Madfang Ragewolf had seen the last of his days. Taterazay dare not look at the splattered remains of his foe, but he did happen to get a good look at the executioner. Tall, with a muscular body, uncovered torso, but a bloodied and grimy apron was worn on the lower half. He looked like he hadn't showered since he was born, and carried a great big blade, bloodied by the blood of his latest victim. But his head. A steel cage recognisable by anyone. In the shape of a Pyramid.

Armed with only the knowledge that you cannot kill him, you alone will face up to your sins. In the form of the most terrifying entity to emerge from Silent Hill. He will make you pay for all of your sins, at the cost of your life. The Punisher. The Executioner. The Pyramid Head.

* * *

Sacrifice walked down the road, approaching the site of the train wreck. Magusar lay underneath. Sacrifice had every intention of finishing him off, until he saw a pool of blood around him. Maybe he had just lost a lot of blood. Nope. Upon further inspection, Magusar was without his head. Someone had finished the job for him. Taterazay? No, he wasn't a sadist like that. Kat wasn't either. Aiden, Dan? Neither. Zeus was still fighting Poseidon, so he couldn't be at fault for it. "Here he is!" Taterazay ran over to Sacrifice. He pointed to Pyramid Head. Sacrifice stood there. What the hell was that?

"You are quite destructive, aren't you?" A voice said . The three turned to the voice. Calypso. "I've never seen anything quite like it, so violent, malevolent, sadistic" He laughed "What kind of abomination are you?" The Pyramid Head grunted at Calypso. "Not a talker then? That's alright. I like silence myself. He had a pocket radio with him, Calypso Industries, of course. "Tell me, how does this make you feel?" Calypso changed the frequency. Screams. Tortured screams. "Calypsoooo!" "Get us out!" "What are you doing, Calypso?!" "You can't keep us here!" "HELP!" More and More tortured screams. Taterazay and Sacrifice just thought him to be sick. But the Pyramid Head sensed something else. He let out and angered moan at Calypso, and swung the Great Knife at him. Calypso was knocked off balance by the surprise attack. "Well, you know who I am don't you?" Calypso said to the Pyramid Head. He roared at the businessman. Calypso felt the cut on the side of his face, blood slowly trickling from it. "No matter, you can't tell them" Calypso stood up to the Pyramid Head. "Now, see you in hell!" Calypso teleported away.

As if on cue, a rumbling was heard. A gentle sound followed, water. Water. A wave. A flood. A Tsunami. Unequaled by anything. Taterazay took the emerald out of his scarf. It was worth a shot. He concentrated, and slowly, a glowing energy field consumed all three, teleporting them away, just before the Tsunami swept them away.

* * *

T-Bone's hide out in Pawnee awaited Damien, Aiden and Kat as they walked along the motorway. "Who's T-Bone?" Kat asked as a thick fog descended upon them. "He's...pretty good at his job. He is the best of the best, why I was lead all the way out there, to that place." Aiden seemed distant. A man was frantically yelling through the fog. The yelling was all in Chinese, so it was probably nothing special. There was definitely a lot of aliens following him, their groaning and strange inability to hit the man giving away their cover. "Wait" Aiden's eyes narrowed "Dan?" Sure enough,Dan Hibiki came sprinting through the fog, followed by the aliens. Damien took out a revolver, Aiden took out a GL94 Grenade Launcher. Kat started to float in the air. "Aiden! Run!" Dan yelled. No one moved. BOOM! A loud explosion rang out. Damien looked into the distance, seeing the sonicboom still going. "Something going on in Chicago" "No! What would make you think that?" Dan asked sarcastically. The fog cleared, so only the murky red sky remained. Aliens began to stop pouring through the portal, but there was something strange going on in Chicago. Not good. Kat was first to react. She scooped up Aiden, Dan and Damien in a gravity field. She then took of at supersonic speeds towards Pawnee. Just as Aiden had seen, the city was flooding.

* * *

Zeus looked from the skyscraper tops to see his brother. (There are a lot of Skyscrapers in Chicago, aren't there?), well it was the Merlaut, but still tall regardless. His brother had taken to a much more serious form. Towering over the city, his waist, decorated with Stallions made out of water. He held aloft his trident, looking for Zeus. "You underestimate my true power, brother, and so for that I will make you pay!" Zeus was in shock. I did no such thing! You defect to this other deity over me? That's treachery! I am your brother, I enlisted you to help fight Kratos!" "You put yourself at the back! Watching as everyone else died in your name. While you stayed at Mount Olympus, as a god. Feasting, Partying. Have you no shame?!" Everything went silent. Like he had killed a puppy.

Zeus didn't have an answer to that one. No time to answer it either, a stallion flew at him, forcing Zeus to retaliate with a lightning bolt. The Stallion was gone then, but it was going to require many more lightning bolts before the job was done and dusted. But he wasn't alone. Pyramid Head, Taterazay and Sacrifice had appeared behind him. Taterazay was inspecting a jewel, but the one with Zeus' attention was the one who had a Pyramid for a skull. Not even something from the pits of Hades could be this twisted. "What force created you?" Zeus asked tapping on the steel cage, hearing a reverberating from inside, implying that the skull was hollow. The Pyramid grunted and pointed to Poseidon. Zeus looked on. "Ah yes, a problem as it appears, mortals". Taterazay assed his soldiers. Kan would be best suited to this, with his long range bow firing skills and horn playing. Sacrifice could use his distance spells, and Zeus could fly. But what about PH? He couldn't do anything? Pyramid head grabbed the mystery emerald from Taterazay. Soon enough, it merged with him. His appearance didn't change, nor did his power. But he was able to fly. Well, better start praying.

Zeus and Pyramid Head flew off to the Stallion's heads. Zeus letting lightning bolts travel towards the heads, While Pyramid Head flew in to decapitate the aquatic steeds. But Poseidon was onto them, swinging at them with his trident. "You, Zeus, are fi-YEOW!" A flaming mortar hit him in the eye, before an exploding arrow. Kan and Sacrifice had him covered from a distance. "Damn you! Feel my wrath!" Poseidon soaked the skyscraper in water. Taterazay laughed. "What's that gonna do?". Zeus thought 'What could he be up to?' Then he remembered. "JUMP!" He yelled. Taterazay and Sacrifice jumped, as the water was frozen into ice. "Okay, slippery surface now, proceed with caution" Taterazay repeated to himself, trying to maintain his balance.

* * *

"Aiden! What brings you here?" T-Bone asked as the four entered the underground lair. Monitors of all kinds, each showing destruction by the aliens, all over the world. "Shit's hit rock bottom, that's it for us. No more can be done." T-Bone explained to Damien. "Not true. Our armies are failing, no doubt. But what about CTos?" "What about CTos?" Damien smiled. He had been waiting to explain. CTos have these...generators, right? Designed for security. But, disaster struck, as you saw and the generators aren't getting delivered" "What's this about generators? How do they have anything to do with security?" T-Bone asked. "They make robots." Damien placed a diagram, showing a design for a humanoid mech with a camera for a head. "These generators an produce millions of these guys each. They can't hear well, but they can see everything. Their eyes are the camera, which melts things with concentrated beams, that are believed to be hostile to mankind, like..." "Aliens" T-Bone finished. "Precisely" Damien smiled. "There's a CTos centre nearby, and if we can send out a signal from there, launching CTos droids in all those cities, then our problem will be over 'fore ya know it" T-Bone looked sceptical. "I don't know, it seems pretty risky" Aiden cut in "Look, we don't have any other options, this is our last hope. I don't know about this either, but there's nothing else we can do" That was enough to convince. "Alright, let's go" T-Bone sighed. "Woohoo! My team and I are gonna destroy the aliens!" Dan yelled.

* * *

Poseidon looked weakened. Severely weakened. He couldn't move, a repercussion of his freezing of Chicago, his stallions were killed and Zeus wasn't letting up. "You will know your place for defying me!" Zeus yelled, slamming an electricity charged fist into Poseidon's face. "YEEEOOOW!" Poseidon yelled, falling through the ice, into the cold water below. He was definitely out cold. Now was the time to strike. No control over the water. Zeus let a lightning bolt fly from his hand, hitting the surface of the water. Chicago lit up for the first time in hours as Poseidon was condemned to a watery grave. The ice shattered, as Taterazay, Sacrifice, Pyramid Head and the rest of the Patapons fell to the ground. Aliens began to pour through the hole again, but this time with no malevolent intentions. Just floating around. Not that it mattered.

The sight of Chicago was enough to deprive the rag-tag team of all happiness and hope. Even beating Poseidon wasn't enough. There were no buildings left. Rubble and half standing structures remained. Snow decorated the ground, in contrast to the murky red sky that remained, as a cold wind seeped through the fallen remains of a once great city. It wasn't even worth conquering, if that's what the aliens came here for. Taterazay tried to stand. He wanted- no. He needed to defend the city from further harm. He fell. Got back up. Taterazay wanted to slip into the realms of unconsciousness. But he couldn't. He was falling again. But he felt something stop him. A flag. Hatapon. "Hata?" Taterazay asked wearily. "Don't worry about me...I'll be just fine." Hata said nothing. Taterazay realized what it was about. If he went down. Hata was vulnerable to anything. He was so young. Hata couldn't have been more than fifteen years old. He was a quiet young fellow, never spoke much, but no one could deny his fortitude. Putting himself on the line for the greater glory, no weapons, experience, just a flag and nothing else. "Don't worry buddy, I'm not gonna leave ya alone" Taterazay let out a weak laugh. "But why?" A voice asked. Taterazay looked behind Hata and saw Black Doom. "Who are you?" Taterazay asked. "I am Black Doom" He stated. "What do want?" Taterazay demanded with all his might. "I want to know, why do you defend people you don't know? They tried to lock you up, and you protect them" He explained. "They...are a good race" Taterazay smiled. "What?" Black Doom couldn't believe his ears.

"They gave everything" Taterazay droned. "But my Black Arms easily defeated them" Black Doom objected "We far outclassed the humans". Taterazay let a weak laugh escape his lips. "But, don't you see? They knew you outclassed them. But they still did everything they could to stop you from taking over their world. I've never seen a race quite like that. One who will fight, even if there is no chance, just to try and make one" Black Doom mused. "You're completely delusional" He stated "But you have a pure heart. So I shall make with you a wager" Taterazay stood on his own two feet, with Hata behind him. Black Doom summoned a giant lizard like creature. It was clearly one of the 'Black Arms'. "Defeat my champion, and I will reward you with this. Black Doom produced a red emerald. "A Chaos Emerald." Taterazay nearly jumped out of his skin. Now he knew what that item was! "Tell me more about this, 'Chaos Emerald'" Taterazay demanded. "I can't" "How many of them are there?" Taterazay questioned. "Just one" Taterazay laughed. He had caught Black Doom red-handed "Well then, explain to me what this is?" Taterazay took out the Dark Blue Chaos Emerald, and felt a feeling of relief and renewal, as the Emerald filled him with power.

Orange visor replaced by Lightning Yellow, black skin replaced by Magma Red. Taterazay readied himself. Black Doom ordered the creature forward. It shot forward like a bullet, and so did Taterazay. They stood opposite each other, with the lizard thing facing Hata and Taterazay facing Black Doom. The lizard exploded. "Now, how many are there?" Taterazay demanded. "Seven in total" Black Doom answered, chucking the red Chaos Emerald at Taterazay. "The day will come, when you and I can hide behind no deceit, no tricks, face to face, to the death. I look forward to that day" Black Doom disappeared. Taterazay looked up. The sky changed to the dull grey, clouds which snowed down upon the ruins of a fallen city. The Black Arms were still there. Celebrating their victory. Taterazay put the Chaos Emeralds in his scarf and turned to Hata. "Guess we have some work to do, huh?" Hata nodded. But they didn't.

* * *

"Alright, signal is out!" T-Bone threw his hands in the air. "If what you say about these guys is true, then we have nothing to fear, it's all in good hands" Damien smiled. "Told you it would work, didn't I?". "But, you guys showing up, and those...occurrences, they're all somehow linked" Aiden mused. "We won't find answers lying around here" Damien patted him on the back. "Come on, let's go back to Chicago." So the six of them drove back, through the snow. Seeing some people asleep on the side of the road, peaceful. They had won. The sky had returned. They indeed had won. But at what cost? An unequaled one. Aiden couldn't believe his eyes. Chicago was no more. The river was frozen over. Burnt out wrecks of cars, masked by the snow. Wind seeped through the destroyed buildings, none of which stood proud and tall like they used to. Miscellaneous possessions lay scattered across the streets, occasionally, a dead soldier would come into view. Aiden finally stopped when he saw a familiar sight. Taterazay. He was hanging out with a fucking freak show, though. Zeus, Sacrifice, Taterazay's soldiers, himself and a terrifying thing stood there. No one pretended like they didn't care what he looked like, it was unnerving, to say the least.

"Still have some work to do here" Taterazay gestured to the Black Arms encircling Chicago. "Not anymore." Aiden smiled as a dozen trucks pulled up, each with CTos printed on the side. The men got out and placed the generators in the middle of the streets. This drew the black arms attention. They all rushed off to defend their newly claimed territory from these abnormalities. The generators whirred into life. The product was placed on the ground, out of nothing. A chubby man, wearing a blue jumpsuit, and white gloves over his hands. On his head, there was a CCTV camera, radiating a blue ray, indicating his line of sight. The Black Arms saw these as a threat. They all rushed in, the brutes on the ground rushing after the sentient cameras. That was when they revealed their weapons. The camera beams immediately turned red as they all ran after the Black arms. The alien invaders were powerless. All these guys had to do was look at these aliens, and they were toast. Or rather, disintegrated. Literally, it was a torturously prolonged disintegration. "Heat waves hit the target first, causing irritation to the skin. Nothing harmful, but incredibly off putting. You can still get out, and escape unscathed, but prolonged exposure, more than seven seconds at a time, that's when the rays cling to you. They continue to eat away at your skin, causing unbearable pain to anything unfortunate enough to get caught in the beams" Damien explained, before raising his voice. "Like these bastards here!" He fired at one of the aliens who tried to fly away. Shortly, the CTobots were on it, and disintegration was done and dusted, even if the creature was writhing in pain throughout the ten seconds.

Within an hour, Chicago was free of invaders. The CTobots had begun construction on the city, while the workers explained the situation to their bosses, among other things. The CIA and FBI, and maybe even the CDC were gonna be here pretty soon. "Alright! We are unstoppable!" Dan threw his fist into the air. "Well if you think so, I'd like to ask of you a favour" A CTobot explained. "Huh?" Aiden asked. "We need help getting into Seattle. The Alien storm there prevents us from working there, and so we require your assistance eliminating more aliens" Reluctantly, the group agreed, with Dan and Damien insisting that they went. "Excellent" The CTobot saluted "We have methods of transportation of which you may use to reach your destination-" "Hang on" Taterazay reached into his scarf and pulled out the two Chaos Emeralds. "By the Gods!" Zeus exclaimed "Chaos Emeralds! Where in the world did you find these?" Taterazay scratched his head "I found one from the Alien leader, Black Doom, I don't know where the other one came from" Zeus stood there gobsmacked. "Can you tell me about these?" Zeus nodded.

"Long before my time in my world, there were fourteen Primordial Deities, of which I was descent. They all possessed infinite power, and were unbeatable. One of them was Chaos, the God of Destruction. But the other Deities grew fearful of his violent nature and increasing power, and so they sealed him in an emerald, and split the rest of his power into seven tiny were hidden well, until a scientist discovered them. I don't know the rest, something involving anthropomorphic animals and glitches"

Shortly, Kat arrived with a functional car. "Is there anything else?" Damien asked, kicking the liscence plate. The liscence plate came off after the first kick. "This is the best car I could find" Kat explained. "I just hope we don't have to get to Seattle in a hurry" Aiden laughed. "Wait!" Taterazay fumbled around his scarf for the chaos emeralds. He opened up the bonnet and chucked the chaos emeralds in. "Do you have anything to prevent you flying through the air at 300 miles per hour?" Taterazay asked. "A seatbelt?" T-Bone asked. "Yeah, I would advise using that".

Aiden took the wheel with Damien in the passenger seat. Pyramid Head sat dead centre of the car with his head sticking out of the sunroof, with T-Bone on the left and Kat on the right. In the back, Taterazay shared a seat with his soldiers, while Dan sat left of him, eith Sacrifice on the far left. "Let's see if you're telling the truth about these emeralds" Aiden murmured as he turned the key. A deafening roar came from the engine. Aiden gently placed his foot on the accelerator, causing the car to fly forward. "Next stop Seattle!" Taterazay yelled

* * *

"The invasion was a complete success" Black Doom explained. "Aside from the all stars interfering". Calypso dismissed the last bit, staring out of his office window. "Oh, popycock" Calypso shrugged. "That was just to warm them up". "What are you going to do now?" Black Doom asked. "Send in the Wendigos" Calypso smiled. "They won't know what used their veins as spaghetti". "What's so special about these 'Wendigos' anyway?" Sigma asked. "My boys could just as easy take 'em down". "Your boys will be needed at the chemical plant" Calypso explained.

"Bullshit" A pair of red eyes called out. Calypso turned his attention to the light shining from the darkness. "Can you please elaborate?". "Shadow and Omega will wipe the floor with those pathetic droids." The voice explained. "Hey!" Sigma yelled. The voice ignored. "I will retrieve the chaos emerald, then you can send in your bots". Reluctantly, Sigma agreed and before long, there were two less people in the room. Cslypso was sipping tea and listening to classical music. Content for now. "How's your invasion coming along?" Calypso asked. "Quite well, Black Doom, Nefarious, Cortex and I are putting our heads together, should wipe out most of the All Stars". Calypso nodded. "Very good. That should please the Polygon."

 ** _Author's Note_**

These attacks were more orchestrated than they may appear. Who is the man with an unhealthy obbsession with the Chaos Emeralds? So much to find out! I really liked the Chicago Chaos chapters, I liked the way the characters went together, but I'll let you be main judge. Until Next Time! Also, GO BRONCOS!


	9. Chemical Calamity

Radec found himself lying on a hard yellow surface. That girl clung to him like a dog to a fire hydrant, sleeping. Radec pushed her off, without waking her. He got up and inspected the area. The others were still out, except Omega. Radec took the time to study the machine. Luckily he had his wrist comms, so he was able to digitally download data from E-123. The comms explained all the zeroes and ones flashing on the screen.

"E-123 Omega, created as the last of the E-Series robots by Doctor Ivo Robotnik. Robotnik created Omega with the intention of stopping the ultimate life form, Shadow The Hedgehog. But Robotnik's carelessness led him to isolate Omega in the research facility where Shadow was contained, until he was awoken. He managed to break his programming, and rebelled against his creator, along with Shadow. Omega has a highly destructive built in weapons arsenal, including..."

Radec kept staring. Such a machine would kill the ISA scum by itself. "Weaknesses" Now Radec found where he wanted to be. The Achilles Heel. "Omega despite having a high intelligence does not strategize which gets him into situations which he cannot crawl out of. Lock on system is unreliable, rare glitches may occur." Radec furrowed his brow. Those were tiny weaknesses. Worthless. Insignificant.

"Megaman X. Created by Doctor Thomas Light, as a prototype fighting robot built for justice. X was however, too powerful for the humans of 20X and so Light sealed him within a capsule, to be reawoken when humanity needed him. Found one century later by Dr. Kain, X joined a robot unit known as the Maverick Hunters, lead by a robot called Sigma. Together, X, Sigma and the other Maverick Hunters were an excellent crime fighting team, until tragedy struck." Radec mused. Interesting, how such primitive people could build technologies beyond their comprehension.

Zero up next, him being so buddy with X. "Zero was created by the aging Doctor Albert W. Wily, who wanted a robot to continue his legacy after his eventual death. Wily sealed Zero in a capsule, to be awoken with the intention of destroying Light's ultimate creation, Megaman X. Zero was eventually awoken by the Maverick Hunters. Led by Sigma. They were exposed to Roboenza (I think) Which caused the once good Maverick Hunters to turn against humanity, except X. Zero's programming was reversed, and he stood alongside X in their bid to save humanity from Sigma." Information flashed up on the screen, very similar to Omega's. "Interesting..." Radec mused.

"Are you satisfied with your findings?" Radec jumped at the Robotic voice. Omega stood there with the same bland look on his face. "What?" Radec asked. "I know what you have been doing, I was not programmed without some form of security measures against hacking" Omega explained. "I let you see" Radec scratched his head. "But, why?" "It appears that we are going to be spending some time together for the foreseeable future. I suggest we make peace, not war" Omega continued. Radec looked at the robot. "I suggest you analyze Shadow next, he is definitely worth knowing about" Omega walked off. Radec spat. Pathetic. A hedgehog couldn't be analyzed. Not a robotic life form, or was he? Curiosity got the better of the Colonel. He began analyzing the Hedgehog.

"Shadow The Hedgehog. Created by Doctor Gerald Robotnik, using alien DNA, designed to protect humanity from those same aliens. Project Shadow was to be carried out aboard the Space Colony ARK, for safety reasons. But the United Federations realized the project to be too dangerous for humanity in the first place, and so killed the scientists aboard the ARK. But not before Gerald's granddaughter, Maria, sent him to Earth with her dying breath. Shadow has accomplished many feats over the years, including victories against Solaris, Black Doom, Sonic The Hedgehog..." Radec took all this information on board. He knew everything. Everything.

* * *

"Alright, X." Zero sat up "Time we were going" X sat up "Yeah...But where to?" Zero hadn't thought of that. "Oh, ehm...Over, there?" Zero loosely waved the Z-Blade around, no one knows what at though... There was certainly a lot to wave about at though. The hard yellow surface was a tube, if you looked underneath, you would see a blue substance flushing through the pipes. These traveled up to a platform, intended for standing on. That was where the blue liquid sprouted up and went back through the other pipes. It wasn't like any facilities in 21x, was this how humans used to live? Loop de loops, precariously floating platforms, moving blocks, spider bees and metallic urchins clinging to the walls and ceilings? It was so inefficient for getting around, but even through all of it, it was recognizable as what it was supposed to be, a- "Chemical Plant" Shadow muttered. "Sonic used to talk about this place." If not mistaken, it was long out of service, only kept functional by a few left behind badniks.

"You know this place?" X asked. "Yeah, pretty notorious" Shadow answered. "I don't know why, but the Chaos Emerald sent me here." Shadow looked at the sky blue emerald. "But why?" "I would have thought it to be obvious" A voice spoke up. "I expected more of the one who "Killed" me" Shadow recognised the voice immediately. "Black Doom" He growled. "You should be dead!" Black Doom laughed. "And so should you, fighting me, even with all seven chaos emeralds. It's called defying the odds." Black Doom floated right up to Shadow. "I would be cautious if I were you, Shadow the Hedgehog" Shadow furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?" "A past assassin is coming back, time is short. Many commiserations, but I have business in Chicago to attend to.." "What?!" Shadow ran towards the hologram, just as it had disappeared. "We have to be on the lookout. We'll know who it is when they decide to show themselves!" X and Zero readied their weapons. "Alright, I'll scan the area for any discrete signs of threat here" X went off to do so. Zero followed. "I have to go and warn the others" Shadow took off.

* * *

"H-Hey! Slow down!" Pupuru caught up to Radec, Dan and Ellie. "For the last time child, leave it go!" Radec gritted his teeth. "No! I know you are the one for me!" Pupuru clung tight to his leg. Ellie started laughing. "Oh man, that's too funny!" Radec sighed in frustration, there was no convincing this girl otherwise, she was content with where she was. Shadow ran towards the group. "There's a guy, who's going around here, trying to make sure we don't get out" Shadow explained. "What kind of guy?" Ellie asked "Well, I don't know what he looks like, but I know what he is capable of" Ellie looked at Shadow funny "What?" Shadow smiled. "THIS!" Before a finger could be raised against him, Shadow unleashed a glowing energy forcefield on the group.

* * *

Shadow felt a sense of Déja Vu as he raced through the Chemical Plant. What was that music? It gave off strange vibes. Do-Do, De-Do-Do-De-Do, Do-Do, De-De-Do-Do-Da-De-Do-Do-Da. Egg Pawns were playing away in one of the control towers, the music ringing all throughout the plant via the PA system. Going through loop de loops, destroying Badniks, jumping from platform to platform. KABOOM! An explosion rang out in the distance. A yellow beam then shot out. "He's already here" Shadow muttered. BANG! Something went wrong for him though, he was shot out of the air, with a barrage of rockets. Shadow made a U-Turn, running off to the site of the crash. But he chose a bad day to do that. Everyone was out to get him. Penguins, Mandrills, Mammoths, Snakes, everyone on Noah's ark wanted him dead. "ANNIHILATE!" Omega yelled, freely firing the Omega guns through the crowds of robots.

"Damn it! Retreat!" One of them yelled, before the crowd followed suit and tried best they could to get away. "Let Vile take care of him!" Omega kept his Omega guns out. "Sources found no data on 'Vile'" Omega read. A soft rumbling was heard. A blue battle suit rolled over the tube. Similar to Omega, but it was being controlled by a small purple robot. "All right! Put your hands in the air and come quietly!" The robot let out a laugh. "That must be Vile" Shadow muttered, looking at the yellow Chaos Emerald. It would make short work of such an attitude. "Oh, so you're up first then, eh Pincushion?!" The robot laughed some more. "Initiating attack" Omega scanned the robot.

NO WEAKNESSES FOUND

TOP SPEED 50KPH

ONE WEAK LONG RANGE WEAPON

Omega revealed the Omega guns. "Two on one?" Vile asked "Awww, that's not fair!" Vile was still complaining when Shadow kicked him in the back of the head, launching him out of his mech. Omega opened fire on the mech, destroying it. X and Zero showed up. "Alright Vile, time you started answering questions!" X demanded. "Who are you working for?!" "Sigma" Vile laughed. "Who's he working for?!" Zero asked, kicking the deranged robot. "You think I'm telling you?" Vile stopped laughing. "Well, we have all day to talk" X smiled. "Oh, I wouldn't be so confident about that, X!" Vile rolled out of the way of a yellow forcefield as it hurtled towards the group. "X look out!" Zero warned. Too late. X didn't even have time to react before the blast completely destroyed him. A blue dot landed. "X?" Zero asked in disbelief. X smiled. "But...I just saw...whaaaaa?" Zero scratched his head. Shadow was the first into action. Using Chaos Control to teleport behind X and deliver a kick to the...hand? X grabbed Shadow's foot. Without even turning to face him, X flung Shadow back to his original position. "You'll have to try harder than that" X shook his head. "To think, that you could have been so much more challenging for me to bring down. Disappointing, to say the least"

* * *

Daniel looked out from behind his shield. "I think he's gone" He mumbled to the group. Fortunately, the Hero's Shield was not easily broken and was able to withstand such a blast. "Man, what the fuck was that?" Ellie asked, dusting herself off. "What you saw, is what will kill you here." A voice answered. The group looked up. A strange man wearing red robes stood on one of the above platforms. He looked like he had been locked in a room his entire life and left there to die. The outlines of his bones were visible, and his skin was unearthly pale. He held a trident. He then decided to raise his trident high, allowing for lightning to strike it. Groaning was heard. Pupuru began to feel anxious. "Maybe we should get out of here" She suggested. "Nonsense!" Sir Dan proclaimed "Not while the evil sorcerer Zarok is on the loose!" No one understood what he said, but they understood enough to know that he knew the sorcerer and he wasn't going away until that sorcerer was gone. "So be it Fortesque. Your foolish actions will condemn you and your allies to an unpleasant grave"

The sorcerer began to laugh as the moaning voices grew louder. It was of course, Zarok's army. Zombies. Daniel felt his grip tighten on sword and shield. Ellie checked her backpack. 27 Shots. 8 per magazine, not including the one she had on her. Better make the shots count. Radec had all his weapons on him. Flamethrowers, Shotguns, Machine Guns, Assault Rifles, you name it. Radec had it. Sir Daniel obviously had all his weapons on him too. Canny Tim's Crossbow, Chicken Drumsticks and even some guns, but he didn't use those, as the recoil could make him fall apart. Pupuru had her magic and swords. But she was still nervous. She clung to Radec, who ignored her.

"Loyal soldiers! Eviscerate these vile fiends!"

The zombies started to pick up pace. "Shit" Ellie swore under her breath. Radec opened the formalities. The Arc Cannon tore through the horde. "Go! Go!" Radec yelled. Ellie wasted no time. "What about you?" Pupuru asked. Before she could get an answer, Sir Dan grabbed her and ran through the opening. Onto one of the tubes. Radec cursed the decision to be heroic. He used up all the arc cannon's energy and made a dash for the exit. There was none. "Fuck!" Radec fired the STA-52 Assault rifle into the crowds. But it was not enough. Radec was finished. There wasn't going to be anything left of him.

"19,18,17..." Ellie counted every shot she fired. Pupuru just kept running. That wizard must have done something to null her magic's effects on his legions. Sir Dan and his chicken drumsticks were all between an army of undead and the three. They swarmed. But they only killed Ellie. They captured him and Pupuru. For Zarok's own sick amusement, no doubt. After a bit of walking, the wizard revealed himself. "All bow!" Zarok commanded. The servants dropped Pupuru, Dan and...Radec? Yep. the Helghast Colonel was thrust onto one of the moving platforms. It had been styled to a battle arena. Zarok's minions cheered. Who should appear on the platform but the hell prince himself?

"Gigadis!" Pupuru yelled running towards the arena. One of Zarok's minions held her back and hissed. "Enough!" Gigadis yelled, scaring the minion. "She is not to be harmed!". Gigadis turned to Radec. "Unlike you". Radec remained unfazed. Gigadis cracked his knuckles. "Alright! Listen up, Colonel! You may have won the first round, but you will not best me this time. The rules are simple. The first man to knock the other into submission is the victor, and my darling Pupuru's suitor" He winked at Pupuru. Zarok put his head in his hands.

* * *

Shadow punched X straight in the face. X retaliated with the X Buster, but Zero kept slicing through the shots. Omega was a seperate problem. Zero and Shadow both lunged in for the kill. X saw his chance. He moved, faster than the naked eye could see and allowed the Z-Blade to nearly cut Shadow in half. "Pretty good, X. But you'll-" Zero froze. The Z-Blade wasn't where it should have been. But shortly he found it embedded in his back, protruding through his front.

Shadow was alone again. Omega had to make sure no zombies interrupted the fight, which was like a field day for him. So he braced himself. X wasn't there. THWAK! Downed. Shadow looked up. He was getting up, to face X again. Until he saw the carrier looming over the chemical plant. The carrier cast a shadow, and so X noticed it too. Looking up, he barely had time to react as a ball of steel slammed into him. "Fuck." X swore. "Not him again"

* * *

Radec put up a fight. Not because he had guns or knives, but Radec was no slouch in hand to hand combat. He may not have had the power, but he was shrewd. Winding up Gigadis with a few cheap shots and then using that to his advantage. "Oh Kuu, I hope Gigadis doesn't win" "Kuuuu" Kuu rubbed his head against Pupuru as some form of comfort.

"This is pathetic" Zarok spoke to himself. "Why is he fighting him one on one? My army would've had his innards for tea by now, but here he is. Wasting his time" Zarok sighed as Radec found another opening. "I wonder, is he just an idiot? That would explain a lot of things". His minions were booing as the Colonel started to get the upper hand. Zarok sighed again. "Stop wasting your time, you old fool!" He yelled to Gigadis. Gigadis wasn't listening, too busy taking shotgun blasts to the head. "Minions, attack!" Zarok yelled, losing his patience. No sound. "ATTACK!" He yelled again. No movement. "MUST I-" Zarok looked down. There were no zombies. But there were plenty of robots. They were humanoid, with arms, legs and guns in hand. Their faces were built on, a pair of glasses, and a toothy smile. Gigadis and Raec turned their attention, as did Pupuru and Sir Daniel. "Gigadis! Help!" Zarok commanded. Gigadis ran off to slash through the robots. But he was cut off by a silver ball smashing into him. "Good job Silver Sonic!" A man in a strange flying vehicle. He wore a red jacket with white gloves, and goggles on top of his bald head. He wore glasses and had a moustache like cat whiskers. "Now! As for you!" The man laughed, hovering above Zarok. He then let the bottom of the vehicle open up and had a capsule drop out of it. Zarok barely had time to react before the capsule sealed him in it.

"LET ME OUT! GIGADIS! YOU IMBECILE! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Gigadis was out cold in another capsule. As it turned out, this guy happened to be a scientist. "Who are you?" Radec asked. "Aren't you grateful I saved your lives?" The man responded. "Oh yeah, whatever, now tell me what your name is" The scientist smiled. "PRIMARY TARGET SIGHTED: DR. EGGMAN" Omega opened fire. "WAUGH!" Eggman ran off amongst his robots. It took Shadow to make him cease fire. "What the hell are you doing here, Eggman?" Shadow demanded. "Well that's quite a long story" Vile started pounding from inside his capsule "No fair! I love a good story!" Shadow kicked a massive dent into the capsule. "Owww...". "First, we should go to the Egg Carrier."

* * *

"We're two less now" Zero said. He didn't really care much for Ellie, but X was his friend...how could he turn on Zero?. That didn't matter, he was going to get answers now. Vile sat in the corner of the interrogation room. The interrogation room was a grey room with a chair and table in the centre, with another room for Eggman to interrogate the prisoners in. A see through wall made out of an unspecified material separated the two parties. "Alright you bucket of bolts, start talking! Who are you, and what does Polygon Man plan to do with you?!" Vile smiled. "Why do you want to know?" He drawled. "I'm a reporter" Eggman told him. "Oh?" "No, not really you bumbling moron!". "Okay, okay, no need to get excited". Vile stood up. "It probably won't matter, though" He laughed. "We have something planned for each and every one of you..."

"What?!"

"We don't want to kill you...we aren't the bad guys here. We're gonna keep you alive to see that. I really hope you enjoy seeing it." "Bullshit!" Eggman snarled. "No no, it's true, we'll win people over by showing them how great we are. We'll show them that you can't protect them, all of you, you're nothing more than fads. You'll die out." "I think it's you who has to do the dying!" Eggman pressed a button on the control panel to bring down the ceiling. Vile was crushed into tiny pieces.

"We'll have more interrogations tomorrow. For now, I want to bring to your attention MY Plan." The five followed Eggman to the viewing deck of the Egg Carrier. Above the clouds, surrounded by the Egg fleet. "I have quite the story to tell as I explained..."

 _ **Author's Note**_

I'm alive! I think that this chapter definitely has a few talking points, yes, X and Ellie are dead...but are they gone? Who knows?

EGGMUN! Well, he'll become a major plot element...along with every other character in the story...hopefully.

Gigadis and Zarok are in trouble, can they defeat the Eggman? Or will he find out everything there is to know about their sinister operations?

Anyway, hope you enjoyed, until next time...


	10. Seattle Battle Pt2

No one could stop Nightmare. Or so he said. But it was certainly true about the people in and from Seattle. As he walked down the roads of the destroyed city, litter breezed by as the fighting between the aliens and soldiers died down. Small groups of people were taking shelter in buildings. A young boy buried his head between his mother and father, who were trying to convince him that everything was going to be alright. Nightmare didn't bother with those so pathetic.

The sound of a lone car driving behind him caught his attention, it wasn't the military, no, ordinary people. Maybe they were day-trippers who hadn't heard about what was going on, but that too was unlikely. Nightmare turned to face the car, just as it stopped and out stepped an odd group. Three males humans, ordinary, evident as they were weakened by Nightmare's presence. One female, who possessed some form of psychic powers, a pathetic joke of a male in a pink gi, but powerful to a very minor extent. One male powerful to an enormous extent, another indescribable creature, who possessed even more power than the man.

However. There was one that caught his eye. The one with a peculiar cranium. It would have caught anyone's eye, and for a good reason. His appearance wasn't the only thing to catch his attention. This...creature. It came from a different world. The old man, the weird thing, they could kill him, but very unlikely. But the cone headed warrior was more than capable of tasks like that.

* * *

Aiden felt weak, maybe something in the air? Anyway, that CTobot said that they were where they needed to be. He needed to make sure it was safe. Aiden looked over to the city. Skyscrapers still intact with the lights on, the Space Needle, it was surprisingly well preserved. Hopefully, CTos could still be active in Seattle. "Come on, let's go" Damien panted. Aiden nodded along with T-Bone, and so the three drove off in the car. Kat flew towards the storm. Dan snapped out of a daze. "Hey! Wait for me!" He ran off to catch up with the others. Zeus transformed into a bird and flew off towards the storm. That left Pyramid Head alone with Nightmare.

Nightmare wanted to fight.

Pyramid Head wanted to fight.

Nightmare wanted to win.

Pyramid Head wanted to win.

Pyramid Head groaned, swinging the Great Knife in Nightmare's direction. "Finally!" Nightmare smiled "Someone in this world who isn't cowardly enough to run away from me. Someone who is powerful enough to face me!" Nightmare laughed. "I'm beginning to feel at home already"

 _ **Fight!**_

Nightmare lunged in with Soul Edge, clashing with the Great Knife. Nightmare was forced back by the strength of the Pyramid Head. Obviously not a good idea to attack with brute force. Nightmare drove Soul Edge into the ground, causing the tarmac surface to crack. Out of the cracks erupted fire, causing the Pyramid Head to back off, shielding where his eyes should have been. But he wasn't done yet. Or so he thought. Nightmare burst through the flames with a Grim Stride, knocking Pyramid Head off his feet. Nightmare then slammed a fire covered Soul Edge through his gut. Pyramid Head roared. He grabbed Soul Edge, and, to Nightmare's surprise, pushed the blade out. The handle hit Nightmare square in the nose, startling him. Pyramid Head threw a cleaver at his shoulder for good measure, forcing him back just enough for Pyramid Head to find his feet. Pyramid Head got up close. Slashing through Nightmare's gut with the Great Knife. Nightmare didn't even show the slightest sign of backing up. Pyramid Head let his fist fly into the head of Nightmare, finally causing him to reel. He was about to finish off Nightmare, when a sword held back the Great Knife. The Pyramid Head tried in vain to swing, but to no avail, before another sword slugged his gut, sending him flying.

Looking up, he saw three Nightmares. So this guy was able to duplicate himself? Well, two could play at that game! Pyramid Head allowed himself to glow red, creating two of him. The two split up and made short work of the two clones of Nightmare, before lunging in for the kill. Nightmare raised Soul Edge. "SOULS, COME TO ME!" He yelled. A glowing purple aura formed around the oversized blade. The Aura grew and grew, consuming everything in a giant cyclone of Soul-Eating death. "SOUL BLAST!" Nightmare yelled as the field exploded, wiping out all aliens in the immediate area. "That should do it" Nightmare let out a breath of relief. "That stranger. I need to make sure people know of him as an-" Nightmare jumped. The hand on his shoulder belonged to...guess who?

* * *

Sparks flew from his hands, standing in the middle of a long road. Buildings on either side, intact and well. The three of them stood there, jaws agape. Words didn't form. They knew who he was. They knew what he was capable of. The aliens circled the skies, in a passive manner, or maybe to demonstrate their obvious superiority. "Okay people, move along!" One of the military ordered. Delsin, Fetch and Messi decided to stay behind. They wanted to meet Cole MacGrath. Cole stood watching the three slowly make their way over to him. They stood in awkward silence, until Lionel broke the ice. "So...what's it like?" Delsin read through translate. "Having superpowers?" It was a stupid question, but nonetheless, Cole got talking. "It's like having a rock on your back" Cole answered. "That's really all I can say".

"GROAH!"

The three turned their attention to the shrill cry. A hideous creature snarled at the four. With decaying white skin, jagged teeth, glazed eyes and sharp claws on both their feet and hands. It hissed at the four. "It's alright, you head back. We've got this one." One of the DUP members fired a blast of ice from his hand. It collided with the creatures shoulder. It wasn't happy. "What the hell?" He muttered. The creature roared again. It shot off like a bullet towards the DUP agent. "Stay back!" He yelled, firing his assault rifle at the creature. The bullets found their mark, but didn't even slow down the creature. It proceeded to pin the guy to the floor and rather gruesomely remove his head from the rest of his body. Delsin fired a smoke blast. No damage. The creature hissed at him. "Oh, shit". Delsin made a dash away from the creature. It screeched and ran after him. Good thing he was a superhuman, otherwise Delsin would be a goner.

That was when his phone rang. "I'm kinda busy" Delsin yelled over the chaos. "Delsin? What the hell is going on in Seattle?". "Aliens! Lots of aliens...and...uh...Oh yeah! Scary as all hell thing that wants to gouge my eyes out chasing me like there's no tomorrow!" Delsin hung up as he noticed the vent in the side of an apartment block. That was enough to separate him from the strange thing. Messi landed on the building beside him. "Áspero Aterrizaje!" Messi yelled, dusting himself off. Cole climbed onto the building next. "Sorry about that". Fetch was next, just scaling the building. "So now what do we do?" Fetch asked.

* * *

The Egg Carrier was somewhere over Colorado by this point. But it was going to be 45 minutes before they reached Seattle. "So, what is your plan?" Shadow asked. Pupuru, Omega, Zero and Radec all listened.

"Well, it was like this. So there I was, trying to take over the world, until a certain someone stopped me..." Eggman glared at Omega. Omega pointed the Omega guns at Eggman. "As I was saying, things were just an average once a month thing, until something showed up, and wiped out everyone on my Egg Carrier. It attacked me too."

* * *

I frantically looked around. The Egg Mobile was full of fuel, and ready to take off. Something had it out for me. "Come on, come on" I tapped at the speedometer. My genius had saved me for now. But it hadn't. That creature came into the emergency escape room, and destroyed my Egg Mobile. I lay on the ground, and looked up into the red glowing eyes. "Good riddance, doctor."

I blacked out.

I heard the sound of a fire crackling nearby. Where was I? There was a red carpet which decorated the otherwise bare floor. It stretched out to a lone door. Not a double door, but a single wooden door. "Hello?" I called out. My echo answered. With nothing else to do, I walked towards the door. I took a deep breath and opened it. A quaint little room. There was a window, but the curtains were drawn, so I could not see where I was. On the opposite side of the room, the fire was roaring, explaining what I had heard. In the centre of the room, the main focus. A heavy looking wooden desk hid behind an armchair, with another armchair behind that one. Both had their backs turned to me.

"Hello, Mr. Robotnik" I jumped. The armchair behind the desk turned to face me. It revealed a man who appeared to be in his late fifties. He had grey hair which was neatly combed back, while wearing a black striped tie, a button up white pinstriped shirt and a grey vest. "Take a seat, please" I stiffened. "What if I don't?" He smiled a little. "Well, I suppose you don't _have_ to do this, but I think this will help us understand each other a little better". "Look, where am I?!" I got straight to the point. "If you're wondering about the Egg Carrier, I can assure you it's fine." He explained. "That's another thing! I-" I paused. "How did you know what it was called?" I demanded. I read the plaque on his desk. 'Dr. Alan Hill'. No, I definetley did not know that name. "Have a seat" He smiled at me.

So he gave me a stupid psychology test and told me that I should move on up and look for a guy called Kutaragi. The wind blew fiercely on the landing deck. That was when I realised we were on a flying Air Carrier. My Egg Carrier seemed to be tethered to the side of this one. The runway was freshly paved, but there were also control towers, and a few entrances back down to the lower decks on either side of the runway. I saw the place I was looking for. 'Kutaragi's Office' It read. Bold and Clear, so I couldn't miss it. I walked into the office. The place was dark, but it was shortly illuminated by lights, Blue, Pink, Red and Green. I saw the man I was looking for. Not much could be said about him. He had a ghostly appearance, all colour drained out of his body. He would occasionally flicker, but nothing to severe. It was a hologram. He was staring out a window when I arrived. There were plenty of chairs here, around a long, oblong table, for maybe 100 people to sit around. But he stood.

He took notice of me. "Ah, Dr. Robotnik, yes?" He walked down the few steps leading to the window. "I must say, what a marvellous Carrier you have." "Why thank you" I said, acting like it was nothing. "May I get to the point?" Kutaragi asked. I nodded. "I need your help". I folded my arms. "I work alone." He smiled. "I perfectly understand. You haven't had any partners to work with in a while. But I beg of you to join us." "Why?" I pressed. "I need your intelligence, to save the world. Only you can track down the seven Chaos Emeralds." He had my attention. "Now, tell me. If you know me so well, what do you think I'm going to do once I have all seven emeralds?" That should've given him food for thought. "But wait!" He stopped me from leaving. "If the world is destroyed, where will you build EggmanLand?" I stopped. I had no answer to that. "Alright. You have my support" I wearily announced. Kutaragi smiled. "I knew I could count on you, Ivo"

* * *

"So, are we going to this Kutaragi guy after we find these crystals?" Pupuru asked. "Emeralds, and yes." Eggman answered. "But now for some more interrogations. You go ahead, make sure there's no funny business." Eggman waited until they were all gone. Luckily none of them had looked in the filing cabinet next to the door. "Let's see. X,Y,Z. Here we are, Zarok." Eggman looked at the file. He had a long history with the skeletal knight. Making his way down the corridors, reading the file. Egg pawns rallied themselves for battle, various badniks honed their skills in the training hall, and Orbot and Cubot were trying to get a grip on the whole situation. "Woah!" Eggman slipped on a silver liquid. "Orbot! Cubot! Clean this mess up immediately!" Eggman yelled. His two servants rushed to get a mop and bucket. "What is that stuff anyway?" Eggman asked, picking himself up. "Oh, probably a test run of those flamethrowers you engineered." Orbot suggested. Eggman made a mental note to build smarter Egg Pawns as he saw them running into each other like the bumbling idiots they were. He had his badniks though. Egg Robos, Mecha Sonic, Silver Sonic, Metal Sonic, Mecha Knuckles, E-101 Beta MKIII, and many more. He was even packing the Egg Dragoon in case things got out of hand.

"I'm not telling you anything!" Zarok folded his arms. "You can tickle, torture or treat me 'till the cows come home, but I'm keeping my lips firmly sealed!" Sir Dan butted Eggman out of the way of the speaker. "Nonsense! You're going to tell ME everything, you vile fiend!" Zarok was the only one who understood what had been said. "Dear me Fortesque. Has anything sunk into that thick cranium of yours yet?" Zarok walked right up to the wall, as did Fortesque. "You foiled my plans twice! And you know what they say. Third time's a charm" Zarok laughed. "Not with me around it isn't" Fortesque growled. Zarok laughed harder. "Oh, Fortesque! I will miss this about you. A coward. Unearned celebration. Does that trigger anything? Mhm?" Dan had enough. "Okay, bring him back" Radec and Zero kept their weapons trained on the evil sorcerer as they led him back to his cell.

Gigadis wasn't talking either. He said that he would tell all if he could have his Fiancee. But Eggman saw a plan for disaster. Everyone else just saw...well, come on. It's dark, but it's obvious. Don't give me that look!

"Alright, last one. If he doesn't talk, we kill them all" Eggman sighed. This was beginning to look hopeless. Zero burst in the door. Eggman looked up. "He's gone!" "Who has?" "X. Disappeared!" Zero ran off with Radec. "That can't be good" Eggman stood up. Omega, Shadow and Pupuru followed him out the door.

* * *

Aiden made a huge mistake coming to Seattle. These Aliens were organised, and knew that CTos was poison. Everything imaginable was defending the city from people shooting elemental attacks from their hands and gun wielding soldiers. Aliens, beastly animals, but worst of all were the humanoid ones. The pure white ones. They were immune to gunfire. At best, they were blown back by a blast. Swords or anything physical seemed to not harm them. Best to avoid contact. T-Bone, Damien and Dan were with him, and had the same idea. Pyramid Head had gone elsewhere. Kat and Zeus had set about stopping the influx of aliens. Sacrifice had gone off to help some random group of fellow alchemists. Surely there had to be someone else capable of fighting back effectively? That was when he saw the group of people running towards him. Aiden waved frantically to them in hopes of getting them to stop. They did. A man who could have been in his early 20's, a woman much the same, another man who looked like he ate shards of glass out of skulls for breakfast.

But that last guy, wearing a Barcelona kit in surprisingly mint condition was recognisable by almost anyone. Lionel Messi. Aiden wasn't into sports, but he knew at least who this guy was. "Lionel Messi." This day just couldn't get any weirder. "Que?" Messi asked. "Who are you people?" Aiden asked. "We're tryin' to help here" Fetch answered. "You?" "The same. We need to kill the storm." Delsin laughed "Easier said than done" Damien intervened. "So we've noticed. What's your name sport?" "Delsin" "Damien" The two shook hands. "The other two?" "I'm Fetch" "Cole". The introductions were over with briefly. Good thing too. It wouldn't have been easy to have a conversation when there's aliens trying to tear through your flesh. "Let me handle this" Delsin absorbed smoke from a burning wreck of a car and proceeded to fire a smoke bomb at the aliens.

"What are you?" T-Bone asked in amazement. "A Conduit" Delsin answered. "Not much time to explain what that is, so take my word for it". Aliens began to swoop down from above to try and pick them off. Aiden fired a Deagle back, ridding the sky of the few aliens. "Go!" Aiden yelled. "We'll stay back and fight these guys!" They all ran. Into a concrete barrier. But this one was jagged, and in the middle of the road. They turned back. Another concrete barrier. All four sides. Concrete barriers made escape impossible. Delsin got a sense of Deja-Vous. "Delsin." The voice called. "Long time no see." She still stood proud. Even after Delsin had exposed her. Wearing a heavy trench coat over her navy uniform, with short auburn hair. "Brooke Augustine." Delsin muttered. "Hello Delsin" She smiled. "You're working with these creeps?". She tutted. "'Creeps' is a very strong word to use.".

"What would you say?" Delsin demanded. "I would say, not creeps anyway.". "Stop!" Aiden yelled, firing a grenade launcher at Brooke. It was enough to catch her off guard and stun her. She fired a concrete shrapnel in response. Aiden shot the shrapnel out of the air. "Nice shot." Augustine smiled. "Let's see you do it again." Cole still held back. There weren't that many aliens coming now, and those humanoid creatures didn't go this way for whatever reason. "Keep up the good work, Mr. MacGrath" Cole turned. A man in a grey business suit, red tie, dark hair just past his shoulders, Calypso. "Who are you?". Cole asked. "A concerned citizen.". "Yeah, and I'm just a delivery boy" Cole scoffed. "Okay. I'm not a concerned citizen. But I can help." Cole turned to the man. "How?". "Those white creatures. The ones immune to anything. I call them Wendigos. I can give you their weakness." Cole looked sceptical. "Think Cole. All those lives you could save. All the damage you could prevent. Why, you may even restore peace between humans and conduits once and for all. To correct past mistakes. To 'separate that part of yourself from the rest of you." Cole thought back. He nodded. "Alright. Do what you will." Cole told him. Calypso smiled. "Take this. Calypso tossed a purple emerald at Cole. "What the hell is this?" Cole asked. "You're worst nightmare." Calypso laughed as he started to glow red. "Remember the name. William Calypso." He was gone just like that. "AAAAAHHH!" Cole screamed as the emerald ran through his body. It took what it didn't like, and tossed it out, replacing it.

Electricity flew in and out of his body, red and blue. The storm finally died down.

* * *

Geralt, Sacrifice, Dante, Heihachi, Taterazay and Alucard all took notice of the raging storm in Seattle, a more natural kind of storm, but just a violent and destructive as the storm of aliens. "What do you you think?" Dante asked. "We need to go there, God only knows what's going on there." Sacrifice answered. They took off towards the city, only to be stopped halfway by the Pyramid Head. He was fighting with Nightmare, against Devil Jin. He, of course could afford to stay airborne as long as he liked, firing lasers at the two brutes. Pyramid Head threw a spear at Jin, and that was what forced him to come down. He as hit, and fell to the ground, where Pyramid Head was waiting. "No!" Jin yelled as he desperately tried to fly off. Pyramid Head without thinking twice grabbed the spear embedded in Jin's leg. Jin hissed as he struggled against the spear. "Let go!" He clawed at Pyramid Head without getting too close. He flew off. Minus one leg. The group watched as he desperately tried to steady himself mid flight. He flew across the river, dropping blood into it.

"Come on! We need to make sure he doesn't get more ideas!" Taterazay yelled. Nightmare and Pyramid Head tagged along, agreeing to settle their dispute later.

Shortly, the group arrived in Seattle. The DUP and Military were still present, but weakened. One soldier valiantly struggled against the forces of aliens before coming into contact with a white humanoid creature, much bigger than himself. The creature was the victim of subsequent gunfire. That should have killed it, injured it, at least. But nothing happened. The creature bellowed fiercely at the man before picking him up by the head. The soldier was pretty terrified by this point, before being decapitated. Geralt stepped in. "Over here, beautiful" He taunted, taking out his silver sword. The creature took notice and ran over to Geralt, who remained perfectly still.

It stopped right before him. Geralt made no move. The creature stood there, looking over him as if he wasn't there. 'What the hell?" Geralt thought. Heihachi jumped in with a Roundhouse kick, but ended up harmlessly ricocheting off the creature, and attracting it's attention. Sacrifice went next, encasing himself in a rock shell and charging at the creature. It back up when hit, but blocked rampaging rock. It threw Sacrifice back, allowing Taterazay to rally his troops. Chin blew his warhorn at the creature. That hurt. The creature howled in pain, covering its ears. But it also hurt everyone else's ears. Dante sliced at the creatures neck with Rebellion, while Pyramid Head and Nightmare went for the legs. But that still wasn't enough. The creature hissed at the trio.

Geralt yelled "Don't move!". Out of instinct, everyone followed his lead. But he also attracted attention. The creature grabbed Geralt by the leg, forcing him to let go of his silver sword, and having his Iron sword drop out of it's sleeve. "Damn it!" Geralt yelled over the roars of the creature. Claws closing in, better act fast. Geralt casted the Igni sign. Fire blasted from his hand and came into contact with the creatures mouth. "GROAEH!" The creature dropped Geralt, holding its throat. Geralt grabbed his crossbow and took aim. The bolt pierced the creature's throat, ending the screaming and the creature's existence. "Fire...Their weakness!" Dante smiled. "They are fucked now!" Geralt shook his head. "I can feel it. They are still here. They'll kill us. Their spirits could posses anyone, we need to kill them."

Dante stood there. "What the hell do you think we can do? Go to the spirit police?". "Well, something like that. An excorist, or a Psychic. Someone who can see dead people." Dante snickered. "What?" Geralt asked. "Oh, nothing". "Maybe we can ask around?" Heihachi suggested. "Oh yeah, because Seattle is notorious for having a large ghost-busting population" Dante smiled. "I agree." Heihachi cut in. "Anyone around here by this stage, they may have the power to do such a thing." He turned to Dante. "As for you, young man. Drop the attitude before I find a reason to break your nose." Dante rolled his eyes as the group moved towards the sounds of gunfire.

* * *

Brooke watched as the group struggled to fight the flying aliens. Fetch and Delsin had no way to refuel, the Martial artist was useless, and the other three were dangerously low on ammo. She had made the tomb so that it was tall enough to keep the crowd in there, but with a hole at the top so none except the flying aliens could get in. She stood atop the fine structure, safely and soundly. Until something tackled her off the top and onto the streets below. Being a coduit, it wasn't hard to take, but the shock definetely got her. "Cole". Cole looked different though. His shirt was dirty, stained with blood. Fresh blood. The electricity he produced was red, no longer blue. His eyes were glowing red. "Please tell me, how do you feel, knowing you will die?"

* * *

Kat and Zeus worked together, trying to stop the storm. "I think I've done it!" Zeus laughed after noticing the lack of aliens. Kat rolled her eyes. "Where do we go now?" Kat asked. "I'm sure the mortals aboard that beastly contraption shall have no problem with us staying a while." Zeus pointed to the Aircraft carrier.

The Egg Carrier had arrived at its destination. Shadow and Omega waited on the launch deck. Seattle lit up the night sky. One particular red lightning bolt stood out. It struck the center of the City, but so did many others. "Looks like trouble" Shadow said keeping his arms folded. He looked at the Chaos Emerald in his hand. "You know what we're doing, right?" Radec asked, loading his guns. "Yeah, rob a jewelery store for eggyman, get out." Zero practised with the Z-Blade. "Ha. Ha. Ha." Omega laughed at the nickname given by Zero. Shadow rolled his eyes. "Play that song again Omega, the one when I first met Black Doom". Omega searched for the CD. Why had Eggman given him do many CD's? And why were they all Crush 40? Pupuru walked out with scrolls under her arm. "Here" She gave some to Radec. "I thought you might like some. They've helped me when I'm in trouble in the past." Radec looked sceptical at the scrolls. He shoved them into his grenade belt. Who knows? Maybe the invaders would feel sorry for him. Eggman arrived on the deck to rally his eggpawns. "Alright! You know the drill! Those Wendigos are weak to fire, and they cannot see you if you stay still! I've given you goggles to see the spirits once they're out, your flamethrowers will..."

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Found it" Omega inserted the disc into the CD player in the back of his head. Shadow smiled "Perfect."

 _ **Author's Note**_

So the battle rages on. Just finished playing Until Dawn. The Wendigos felt shoehorned in, but they were still powerful. How does Eggman know so much about them though? and what has happened to poor Cole MacG? All that and more will be answered!

On a less serious note: BRONCOS!


	11. Black Rock Beatdown Pt2: Wishes

The group stood still, awaiting the next move. Parappa had closed his eyes tight, hoping this was all a nightmare.

'Any attacks will trigger them' No wonder why was that sentence bothering poor old John Marston so much. He had already died once, so he didn't fancy his chances of cheating death twice. But that wasn't the only thought racing through his head. He knew that Edgar Ross was dead. He just knew, Edgar Ross was dead, long dead too.

Johnny wasn't facing the end. Whether this was the work of Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, or Quan Chi, or maybe even someone completely different, this couldn't be the end.

Sweet Tooth surveyed the faces lined up to kill him. The Twisted Metal contestants, obviously, were more recognisable. He had killed them all, but that didn't bother him. He was going to enjoy killing them again. Dollface, Mr. Grimm, Buckethead, Carl Roberts, Raven, No-Face, Agent Stone, a never ending list it seemed. That Calypso, though. He never failed to prepare.

"Y'all ready?!" One of the rogue government agents called out. No response. "Load yer rifles boys!" A resonating sound of dozens of rifles cocking all at once reverberated around the now silent Black Rock Stadium. "Five, Four, Three, Tw-" The sound of a loud horn honking caught the attention of everyone in the stadium. Out of one of the many tunnels, shone two bright lights. Accompanied by a loud engine, a truck charged into the stadium. "Open fire!" One of the agents yelled, as the truck picked up pace. The truck didn't even slow down when it ploughed through the contestants and those on foot. "Now!" Johnny yelled signalling for everyone to move. Sweet Tooth ran away. "Where the hell-" Johnny was cut off mid-sentence as a bullet struck his skull. "Shit!" Drake yelled, dragging the body by the arm. The group hid behind the wreck of a police car. "Is he gonna make it?" John asked. Drake sighed. "I've checked for a pulse" "Well?"

"Johnny's dead"

Off to a perfect start already. Just five of them left now, with one casualty and one missing. Not that they all weren't capable. The Hunter examined the area. It was an elaborate death trap, lined with giant maces, electric traps and...that was when it occurred to him. This was a Slaughterhouse. For people. The people in the audience. They weren't there because they wanted to be. They weren't cheering. They were screaming in terror. They were there to be killed. The drivers were no safe people either. Spiked car compactors, and lava pits, with the above mentioned traps. Who would design such a thing? That man, Calypso?

"What the hell are you doing?!" John yelled. "Get your ass into gear!" He whistled. A horse appeared in the stadium, majestic and graceful. Black as the ace of spades, emanating a strange aura. "'Hope y'all are ready to pay for your crimes!" John yelled riding off on the horse. It did look frightfully out of place, but so did Nathan. Parappa was the only other person waiting with Drake, still scared out of his life. "Do ya think we'll get out?" He asked. "Think?" Drake laughed. "I _know_ we'll get out.". Drake really wanted to believe himself. But that was becoming increasingly difficult. He threw a grenade at a police car, watching as the car spiraled out of control and fell of the bridge it was driving on.

Death was a horse to be reckoned with, killing those who tried to shoot it by tapping them with it's hooves. John wasn't letting Edgar Ross get away though, and so tried to kill as many men as possible. That would lure Edgar Ross out of hiding. The coward would have to face John himself. "Keep up that killing cowboy! You could be my apprentice!" John looked to his left. Sweet Tooth had busted out his faithful ice cream truck. This didn't look like it was offering refreshments to the audience though. It had a plough on the front, lined with spikes. There was also miniguns on either door. On the roof, there was a poorly made replica of Sweet Tooth's head. It doubled as an R.C. missile. As it drove by John, he saw a bumper sticker on the back. 'STOP FOR CHILDREN' It read. John laughed at that. He wondered if the demented killer actually followed through on that promise. The Bandicoot had busted out some ridiculous looking go-kart in attempt not to be killed, while the dog had a skateboard which also prevented him from dying. Hopefully.

Calypso looked down from above. The All Stars had formed quite the team, working together even though they hardly knew each other. But that truck. That was the crown jewel. Who was driving that?. Anyway, time to let those sorry souls in the audience away from the carnage, as it was all over. They poured out so fast, they didn't even stay to see the end of the competition. The truck driver had won, and so was the winner. Oh? There was still one more. The driver stepped out. Wearing red tinted glasses, an oversized hat, a black trench coat and a red scarf, with grey hair tied back in a ponytail. "Jebediah" Calypso muttered. He ran over to the driver of the truck as he stepped out. It was impossible to tell what he looked like. He was wearing so much over his face,one might suggest he didn't want to be seen without knowing better.

"My Good Sir!" Jebediah shook the driver by the hand. "Please, I beg of you. Wish for Calypso to suffer great misfortune, in the name of God!". John scratched his head. "Hold on there now, let the man wish for what he wants." John tried to escort the estranged man away. "Nononono, you don't understand! Calypso is the beast! He must be stopped!". "I actually agree." Nathan Drake had made his way over. "We should take this guy down. Just wait for the others to come back." The Hunter, Sweet Tooth, Parrapa and Crash were there within a minute. "Okay, I don't like this Calypso guy. We need to get rid of him. Everyone nodded. Drake went over to speak with the winner of the Twisted Metal 2016 tournament. But he was beaten there. Calypso was already there. The two chose to disappear before the very eyes of Drake, along with the insane person.

"Well" Drake threw his arms up in the air. "We're out of ideas." Sweet Tooth had climbed into the back of his truck and was handing out ice-cream. The dog and the Marsupial had one each, with the latter managing to get it all over his face, and Sweet Tooth's. Drake smiled. Maybe this clown wasn't so bad. Drake decided along with John and The Hunter to get one. "So what do we do now?". "Split" Sweet Tooth smiled. Drake ignored the joke. "That's a terrible idea." The Hunter countered. "Don't worry, I won't dessert you." Sweet Tooth continued. "Anyway, where are we gonna go?" John asked. "I suggest we ask around. We can then find out where we are." The Hunter suggested. "Cool idea." Sweet Tooth started to put away his ice cream. "The first time wasn't funny." Drake told him. "Alright, alright. But you should all go in my truck. Wanna know why?".

"If this is another-" "CAUSE IT'S GONNA BE A ROCKY ROAD!". Drake threw his ice cream at Sweet Tooth. It missed and broke off the side of the truck. "Time to chill out". Sweet Tooth was really starting to get annoying. "That's the last one, I swear." Drake sighed. "I hope so- Hey, what did we do with Johnny's body?". They all shrugged. "Can't be that important." Sweet Tooth said, starting the truck.

* * *

"Goodbye, Jebediah". Calypso smiled as he threw the demented Preacher through the portal, watching through his office window as another soul entered his nightmare. "Come in!" Calypso called, setting the window to show New York. The man walked in. Calypso sat with his legs up on his desk. "Now, what is your wish?". The man started laughing as he removed his scarf, then Balaclava, and then taking the hat off his head. He stood there with short, jet black hair, with a leather jacket and and jeans, he looked like an ordinary Joe. But this was enough to make Calypso's once sinister and eerie demeanour change to one of unbridled hatred.

"I think you know exactly what I want, Calypso." Calypso stood up. "And you can piss off if you think I'll give it to you, Ash!". Mr. Ash smiled. "Those are the rules, are they not?". "Yes. But you have yet to kill _all_ of the Twisted Metal contestants." Calypso folded his arms. "Bullshit! Ash slammed his fist into the desk. The Desk shattered in two. "I saw you kill that Preacher!". Calypso smiled. "But those are the rules, are they not?". Ash had no answered. "I-Well-Oh Damn you Calypso!" Ash walked right up to the man himself, who just returned the scowl. "One day. One day Calypso. I'll take back everything that was rightfully mine, and watch you suffer". "Oh, I'm very scared. Tell me this, who's on your side? No one, that's who. I've got an entire army capable of destroying you one million times over. Good fucking luck to you." Ash walked out, but not before flipping the bird at Calypso. "I'll get my army Calypso. Then it will destroy yours, and all others who oppose it!"

* * *

Johnny woke up. He found himself at the end of a long was a door at the end of the hall, with a bright red carpet leading up to it. The last thing he remembered was being...shot in the head. He felt around for the wound, but it was not there. Oh well, better start looking around. Johnny walked up to the door and opened it.

Dr. Hill turned in his seat to greet the newcomer. "Mr. Carlton, please have a seat." Johnny sat down. "I know that, you probably have a lot of questions, but first things first. He handed Johnny a book. "I'm going to ask of you, a few questions. I value honesty above all else, and you will not be judged based on your answers.". "Okay.".

It was a quick psychology test. Johnny wasn't quite sure what it did, or who ran the organisation, or what they wanted with him, but est go where he was told for now. "Let's see, deck 1, subsection A, room 2... Here." Johnny looked up. There was the room. He went inside. It was like a lounge. Being situated on the same level as the runway on the air carrier, There were two other people there, one young girl and a robot. "Hey" Johnny waved. "Hey" The two of them answered. The girl was reading a comic and the robot was using a laptop. Johnny didn't have anything else to do. But there was a massive shelf chocked to the brim with movies. So he went over to the shelf to pick out a movie. (A Johnny Cage film, of course.). He settled on _Dragon Fist 2._ Neither the girl nor the robot paid any attention to the film until about halfway through. But neither of them recognised him.

"Pretty cheesy" The girl commented. Johnny said nothing. Maybe it was time to check out his room. The sleeping quarters were all on the second deck. Johnny was used to military life, part of being a defender of earthrealm, but when he opened the door to his quarters, it was...nice? It was better than nice. There was a tv, with four consoles hooked up to it. Another two lay on his bedside locker. But they were handhelds. It seemed like his entire room had been personalised to his liking. His trophies were on a table in the far corner of his room. Next to his tv, there were shelves of movies, all Johnny Cage movies. There were games thrown on the shelves, not that johnny cared, for all six consoles. Johnny smiled. "I could get used to this."

* * *

The Six all exited the vehicle. "Why have we stopped?" Parrapa asked. "I thought I saw someone" Nate got out of the passenger seat. There was a leaflet stapled to a telephone pole. It was strange. Even though the were in Paris, the leaflet was in english.

50 Blessings Recruitment

16/5/2016

All are welcome

Admission is free

For more information,

visit www.

Drake took the leaflet. "What was it?" John asked. "I think we know where we're going." Nate handed John the leaflet. "where's 'www. '?" John asked. "Huh?" Nate asked. Then he remembered, John was from the time of cowboys. He didn't know what a tv was and was still dumbfounded by 'automobiles'. "Oh, nevermind that. Let me take care of that.".

Nathan found a computer to use where he looked up the website. He found a euro to put in the computer, and so took down the address and time of the meeting. "Okay. Time to get the others. He reached for his phone, to find it wasn't there. "Hey. wha-Get back here!" He yelled when he spotted the raccoon. He quickly caught up to him. "Alright buddy, give me my phone!" Drake reached out for it. "Alright, it was just a joke" The Raccoon handed him his phone back. "Talking Raccoons, huh, seemed kinda familiar though." Drake thought as he called the others.

* * *

That was how the found themselves at the 50 Blessings Paris HQ. They were mostly American, strangely enough. They were then shown to seats as the feature presentation began. It was safe to say that they looked out of place, but no one seemed to care. A man who appeared to be the leader stepped onto the stage. "My friends, I gather you here today to talk about our wonderful organisation, 50 Blessings. We have helped arrest criminals and uncover conspiracies across the globe, and today we ask you to-" He was cut off when the doors slammed open and there was a man at the door. He had brutally slaughtered the guards with a chainsaw, evident from the blood on his letterman jacket and jeans. "Everyone out!" He ordered, causing everyone to run in terror from the 'called off' meeting. "Gun him down!" The leader yelled, making a mad dash for the exit. The soldiers trained their guns on him. But he just laughed and took out two Uzis. "Bring it." He spun around in a circle with the Uzi's, with every bullet finding it's target. Then they started to run at him. He gunned down three before throwing his guns at the fourth. He then picked up a knife and sliced through his jugular, finishing him off two. The last one just stood back. He had witnessed, 15 or so murders in ten seconds. "Please" He begged. "Don't hurt me!". The man dropped the knife. He reached inside his jacket, and pulled out an audio recorder. He pressed play. "Do you know what time it is?" The voice asked. The man picked up a hammer. "No, no! Please God no!" It was too late. He was bludgeoned to death. None of the six had noticed until now, but he was wearing a mask. Not just any old mask, but a chicken mask.

He removed the chicken mask to reveal the blond short hair on the back of his head. He took out a cigarette and lighter. "Bastard got away" He grumbled, lighting the cigarette. Another American. He took a seat and sat down. None of them pretended not to be shocked by what they saw. It defied description. He didn't know they were there, but they sure as hell knew he was there.

"I'm gonna go talk to him" Sweet Tooth said.

 ** _Author's Note_**

I don't know what it was, but I really enjoyed Hotline Miami, even though it did everything I hated. It was incredibly hard, I didn't understand the story until after the tenth playthrough and it was mindless. But I loved it anyway, probably my favourite game of 2012. But Mr. Ash is going to have to find someone to be on his team if it's anything like Calypso says it is. But, maybe he's bluffing. Ellie and X are not dead! And they're with Johnny! Why? Find out!


	12. Invasion Intrigue Pt2: Truth vs Ideals

"All systems are a go sir" A Helghast soldier stared into the monitor. "Alright, don't cock this up" The commander told Cloud, Hale and The Chimera as they boarded the jet to New Vekta City. "Only three of them? Didn't they want to send more?" A young woman asked her mother. "Maya, they are Canaries. Of course we didn't intend to send more than three of them in." Hera Visari left her daughter in the hangar. Maya Visari, or known as "Echo" to her commanders and friends. Her mother noticed her behaviour was different ever since the assassination of Vektan Strategic Alliance leader Thomas Sinclair. She wasn't nearly as outgoing as she used to be, and her attitude towards Vektans had changed.

Of course, it affected all of them. The second Extrasolar war was prevented when Sinclair was assassinated. The wall still hadn't come down, so there was still that divide, but discrimination was a thing of the past.

But Echo couldn't tell her mother the real reasons behind her behavior. She too used to believe the Vektans to be scum, until that changed when she met Lucas. He was different. But history dictated his fate. He disobeyed orders from the top and went with her instead. It cost him his life, killed by his own adoptive dad. When she killed Sinclair, it was less because of 'Let's end this war' and more of 'for Kellan'. Anyway, She was getting over the wall one way or another. She activated her invisibility cloak and snuck on board the jet. "Okay, launching in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1," The jet took off. Looking for a safe landing spot was another matter. But the three in the jet couldn't see Echo, so it allowed her to get to know the three on board.

There was one who looked like they belonged in a sci-fi comic, with three glowing yellow eyes and red decaying skin. He just sat there, minding his own business. The other two were more interesting. The one who was more human looking had no hair, and wore a khaki uniform which was heavily stained. If one didn't know any better, one might suggest he was from the early 20th century. Then there was the last one. He wore a purple uniform, complete with spiked shoulder pads and knee pads. He had an oversized sword bigger than himself, with blue eyes and spiky blond hair. "I can't believe this" The one in khaki spat. "We're being used as canaries." The blond one spoke. "Who are you?" The other guy answered. "Nathan Hale, that guy over there, we just call him Chimera Hybrid" "Cloud" Cloud told him. "Anyway, what do you mean by, 'a canary'?"

Hale smiled. "Well, back before my time, in the 19th century. There was very little technology when it came to safety during mining. So if you wanted to strike it rich digging for gold, you could get killed. So they would get canaries, put them in cages, and have them start singing. Then they lowered the canary into the mine. When the canary stopped singing, that was when they knew it was unsafe. So in that sense, we are canaries. A canary's job, is to act as a dummy, a decoy, a test run. Before they send in the important people."

Cloud sighed. "Oh well, how bad could it be?". The Chimera made some noises to which Hale nodded. "What did he say?" Cloud asked. "He said 'Very dangerous. Expect the worst.". It went quiet after that. No one said anything until the plane landed. "Out!" The pilot commanded. The four stepped out, Echo still choosing to remain hidden. She decided to distance herself from the group.

* * *

"Danner! How are you, my friend?" Danner sighed. "How do you think I am?". Blackjack paused. "I would say...not good." Danner made a mini applause. "and why do you think that may be?". "Well, you appear to have run into a rival company. That bastard Staahl has been trying to steal my business since I set up shop! You kill him for me, I give you personal discount at my shop. Is good deal, no?". Danner shrugged. "Well I was going to kill him anyway.". Taking a moment, Danner analysed the situation. He was trapped in a building with a basketball player who had been dead for two and a half centuries, a gangster, the chief of Vektan police and about two other constables. Things were not looking good. The Helghast and Vektan traitors surrounded the building. Those inside served only as a minor distraction from total domination of the planet. The stance was futile. Within minutes they were all brought out.

"Alright, give us yer weapons. All of 'em!" One of the Helghast yelled. The two sergeants dropped their pistols to the ground. Danner, Kellan, Kobe and CJ were a little more reluctant. "'You's deaf or something?! Weapons on the ground now! Or we kill the sergeants!". A voice interrupted the commotion. "Cease frisking, colonel!" Jorhan Staahl. "I'll deal with these myself." No one moved. "Well? What are you all waiting for? Begone with you! Take the two young constables with you!". The soldiers ran off with those pointless side characters. "Now let me see, I'm not acquainted with you just yet, I'll have to make time for that." CJ spat at Staahl. Staahl ignored. "Oh my, why, I'm honoured. Mr. Bryant, my grandfather used to talk about you all the time." Kobe ignored him. "Still a bit upset over the massacre of half the planet then, Alright. We all know that that's nothing in comparison to wiping out an entire race of beings, isn't that so, Mr. Kellan!" Staahl laughed. Lucas scowled at Staahl. "My, my. Who pissed in _your_ cornflakes this morning? That half breed?". Staahl was grinning from ear to ear. But his grin was immediately gone at the sight of Arran Danner.

"Thirty years...I have yet to forget. Did you?". Staahl came face to face with the burly British man. "I haven't forgotten. You tried to commit Genocide. On the Vektans. Yet you still criticize them for those very same crimes. Have you no shame, Staahl?". "I think you mercenaries are the ones without shame! Betraying perfect causes for cash! Despicable!" Staahl took a moment to collect himself. "Pick up your weapons. All of you. Calypso is waiting.". "Who?" Kellan asked. "Oh, you'll know him when you see him.". They all picked up their weapons...and were in a room.

The room was a rectangular shape, with green striped wallpaper and classical music playing from one of those old record players. Then on one side of the room, there was a trophy cabinet, with very few trophies in it. There were machetes, video games, masks, vials with liquids still inside, and at the end of it all, there was nothing except a painting. It was a landscape picture of a grand castle, sitting on a hill top. C.J. stood near it. Something made him feel uncomfortable, maybe something to do with the painting. He looked back. There were two men talking to the rest of the group, neither of which had noticed him. But what was he thinking? That painting was way too big to be stolen. Plus, was he really that much of a kleptomaniac? Maybe...

* * *

"We need-!" That was all the Vektan could get out before the buster sword made him pay for his treachery. "Need what?!" The response came. "To get the hell off this planet while you still can!" Cloud smashed the comms with his iron grip. "You guys okay?" Cloud asked. "Fine. You?". Hale returned. "Yeah, okay. Let-AAAGH!" Hale fell to the ground. The Chimera backed off. "I hear them! Please! Stop, Please! Go away!". Cloud readied the Buster Sword. "Can you hear them?!" Hale asked, bugged eyed and looking directly at Cloud. He had stopped screaming. "Hear who?" Cloud asked. "Them!" Hale pointed to the Chimera. "They're calling to us! It-it-it's...Beautiful." That last word came out barely as a whisper, but it carried all the impact it needed to. The Chimera were like zombies. They were spreading disease, and Nathan Hale was just one of many victims to their virus. As if on cue the Chimera swarmed the place. Cloud readied the omnislash. The Chimera were roaring and hissing at Cloud, except for that one. He was kind of doing it, but that was just so he wasn't going to get chopped up into tiny pieces.

"OMNISLASH!" Cloud yelled. "OCTASLASH!" Another voice yelled. When the smoke cleared, Cloud saw who the voice belonged to. Sephiroth. Minus one hand. "Cloud, still going are we?". "Sephiroth!". Cloud lunged at Sephiroth. He was parried halfway. "Now Cloud, I wouldn't do that if I were you.". "Why not?!" Cloud demanded. Sephiroth pointed to a Chimera. "Show him." The Chimera showed a screen of Templar Park. Crowded to the brim, surrounded with gunmen. "These are the people who Calypso and Jorhan Staahl, two associates of mine, have run from their homes and been herded in Templar Park like sheep.". Sephiroth whispered the next part in Cloud's ear. "Just between you and me, Calypso is a bit weird.". "Anyway" Sephiroth returned to the screen. "You know I could wipe out all of these people with a single attack." Cloud gritted his teeth. "What do you want?" Sephiroth smiled. "Come quietly. Bring that pathetic human with you as well."

The Chimera Hybrid looked on. His brethren were celebrating, but he didn't feel so well. "What's the matter?". A Chimera walked up to him. "What's the matter? We won, didn't we?". The Chimera was recognised by the other Chimera as Kain. Daedalus had given them all nicknames based on greek names like his own. The Chimera himself was known as Angelo, as a result of him bringing back enormous power to aid the Chimera's eventual victory over the human race. But no one ever used those names. If you said 'Hey Buddy' or 'Hi' you could easily attract the attention of the required person. The only reason Angelo remembered his name was because Kain did. He kind of wished he had wrote down his name as Angelo when those Helghast asked him, but memory wasn't his strong point.

But Kain remembered everything. He was a brainbox. Always inventing. Thinking. Looking to expand upon what he called the wonders of the universe. He had even studied human languages. Yeah, there was more than one. A bit excessive, but it had taken many hours of Kain's life. Angelo hadn't picked up any dialect, because Kain talked in Chimeran tongue, but he did enjoy these things the humans had called jokes. They were nce if you maybe had a rough day. Angelo wasn't that smart, but he enjoyed listening to his friend talk about humans. Now, Kain still hated the human race, but if there was any single human he liked, it was William Shakespeare. That really got him talking. Angelo knew all about him, not that he cared, but because Kain went on for ages.

"Find any more likeable humans?" Angelo joked. "Obviously not". Kain spat. "Where have you been? We beat the humans, and you weren't there, it was great!". "Well, that's an interesting story, but it's for another time." Kain shrugged. "Oh well, I suppose I can wait." He turned to see the other Chimera climbing over the buildings. "Come on Angelo! We need to go to Templar Park, kill the humans!" Angelo and Kain roared and climbed over the buildings to Templar Park.

* * *

Hale stood there. His eyes were glazed. Cloud was no doctor, but he sure hoped he could meet one. There was enough uproar in Vekta to be heard on the other side of the wall. Sephiroth wanted something, and he was going to extreme lengths to attain it. "Let us out! We've got places to be!" One man yelled. "Not now you don't!" Was the response. "Staahl, how are things?" Sephiroth asked, shaking his hand. "Not too well I'm afraid. Old ghosts have come back to haunt me and I'd like them gone.". Sephiroth scratched his head. "What will you do?". "I've given them to Calypso, he can go crazy with them.". "What if Calypso meets his match?". Staahl laughed. "If Calypso doesn't get them, I'll be a dead man!". BANG! A man fired at Staahl. The bullet pierced his leg, sending him to the ground. "Hold him down!". One of the Helghast yelled.

"No! Go to hell!" He yelled struggling and squirming. Kain and Angelo watched from not too far off. "Come on, let's see what the fuss is with this one." Angelo gestured. Something was ticking inside him, he just didn't know what. Like, something was going to go horribly wrong. "Angelo?" Angelo snapped out of a daze "Right, sorry.". "Who sent you?!" The soldier demanded. "No one sent me! I sent myself!" He spat. "I wouldn't speak like that. Especially not in front of your children.". Everyone went silent. Cloud and Hale were nearby, just remaining silent. Not that Hale would have had anything to say anyway. "They're not mine" The man muttered under his breath. "Oh really? I guess you wouldn't mind if we were to, 'do away' with them then?". "No. They're all I have, please!". The man begged. The Vektan soldier scratched his chin. "Well, we could arrive at a compromise...".

"What kind of compromise?!". The man would've jumped if he could've, but that was hard to do when being crushed by a Helghast boot. "Their lives, or yours.". "No, please, there has-" "There is no other way!" The soldier snapped. "Five seconds or you both die!". Angelo looked at the children. They hugged each other tight. Expecting to die. Their father trying to do everything for them. The soldier being an asshole. But the worst thing was, that there were Chimera standing there, watching it happen. It was too much.

"GROOOAAAAAHHHHEEEEEEEEE!"

Everyone turned to Angelo. Kain tried to hold him back. "Calm down, Angelo, what has gotten in to you?!". Angelo scratched at Kain, hissed, and then ran off. "What-" Nothing was more satisfying that day than watching that asshole choke on his own blood. It was what he deserved. The children ran back to their father, as the Helghast made advance towards him. Same fate for that one. "Oi! Stop that!" A dozen more VSA and Helghast troops arrived. Angelo wa having none of it. He readied the acid. Not the infectious type. The corrosive type. They were gone pretty fast, safe to say. "Guards! Kill that m-" Staahl was cut off as a bullet pierced his skull.

Not to far from Templar Park, Echo readied her sniper rifle again. But she was hardly going to top killing the man responsible for Kellan's death. Just assist that weird alien thing causing a commotion. All of a sudden, the wind started to blow. Echo turned around. "Must be my-" _Whoosh!_ Something took off like a bullet towards Templar Park. "What the hell?" Echo asked herself.

Cloud jumped into action. Sephiroth needed to be stopped before he killed everyone here. Hale still stood there like a dope. His eyes changed to an unhealthy green. Cloud focused on Sephiroth. He smiled. "Time's up Cloud!". He pointed to the meteor headed towards Vekta. Cloud gasped. It was on its way, not slowing down. "Damn!". Cloud turned to Sephiroth. The science project had flown into the air, watching as the meteor drew ever closer. The Soldiers and Chimera that remained were swiftly gone at the sight of the meteor, except for that one Chimera that Cloud knew and his friend. Something was...shooting the meteor? Yep. The meteor was starting to crack.

It smashed. Which probably made it an even bigger hazard. But it did make it easier to destroy. The second Chimera managed to blow a piece to smithereens using a cannon. That thing that had destroyed the original meteor wasn't taking it easy either. He smashed several more pieces. Cloud even managed to destroy one with the buster sword.

Sephiroth stared in shock as the meteor was destroyed before his very eyes. No matter, he was just flexing his muscles. Soon Cloud would know that. Along with that Chimera and that man responsible for the destruction of the meteor. Speaking of which, he was getting closer. Then he hit.

* * *

"So, gentlemen. I'm afraid we're Montague and Capulet in this situation." Calypso explained. "Why do you have to be so fancy like that?" The other man sighed. He was a big man, and old too. His wrinkly skin was concealed mostly by the gold and other riches he wore. Over his head, he wore a hood, but you could still see his face. Even though he was obviously old, he was obviously a heavy smoker and drinker. He was a glutton, although he didn't look it. "King Bohan, my good fellow, I try to be nice.". "So, gentlemen. Calypso clasped his hands together. "I'm afraid, there's a place for you, in that...painting?" Calypso stared in bewilderment at the empty spot on the wall. "That's odd. I'll have to see who took it. Calypso searched for the purple emerald. "Where is it?" He muttered to himself. "I can't control time without it anymore. Staahl probably has it.". He returned his attention to the remainder of the crew left. "Danner, Bryant, Kellan, ...Johnson." Calypso scowled into nothingness. "JOHNSON! GET BACK HERE YOU BASTARD!" Calypso clicked his fingers and vanished. "Where the devil could he be?".

C.J. looked for a place that said exit. "Let's have a little look-see..." Okay, I'm not too far. The Jewel was securely in his pocket, while he held the painting tight. "Lobby, on the right. Okay.". The lobby didn't look like any other lobby C.J. had ever seen. There were these...stand in things, all with titles over them. Some locations, CJ recognised. Such examples were Tokyo, Los Angles, New York and Paris. But others were bizarre. Who had ever heard of Vekta, Heskeville, or the Northern Realms?. "GET BACK HERE!" Calypso demanded. CJ panicked. He needed to run. Without much thought, he ran into one of the things. Well, he should've guessed they were teleporters by now. Where was it going to take him? Who knew?

* * *

Cloud ran off towards the landing site of Sephiroth. He couldn't believe it. He and everyone on his team struggled to bring down Sephiroth after many, many encounters, and this random guy shows up out of nowhere and straight up flattens him with a single tackle.

Kain looked in disbelief at Angelo. Every single human in Templar park had returned to their homes, but it was going to take a while before the VSA got back together. "What was that?" Kain asked "You just...snapped". Angelo looked away. "I did what I had to. I'm not going to let things like that happen under my nose." Angelo explained. "But...We're on the same team! Why would you do that?". "What if we're on the wrong side, huh? Did you ever consider that? That we work for cowardly, ruthless leaders?" Angelo demanded. "Those humans work for cowardly leaders! I know so! I've read books about this! All they do is fight and squabble over anything they can! That's why we want them gone!". "Do you know why they want us gone?! We destroyed their homes! We killed innocent people, trapped them and tormented them! We destroyed perfectly functional societies! Caused trouble in places where it was not required for us to do so!". Angelo yelled. "Not just today, but every other day of our lives!"

Echo stood back as the two aliens screeched at each other in some indiscernible language. "Hey" She spoke. They stopped. "What?" One of them demanded. In perfect english. "Thanks. You've helped us greatly today.". The two stopped quarreling. "I don't do business with you" Kain folded his arms. Angelo grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. "Tell her I'm very thankful for her gratitude.". "He says he's thankful for your gratitude." Kain grumbled. "I'm Echo" Echo shook Angelo's hand. Kain refused. "Are you sure? You've helped good people." Kain said nothing. "I hold-" "Why don't you just leave me alone you unscrupulous creature!" Kain hissed at Echo. Angelo punched Kain hard in the shoulder. "What the hell, Jackass?! Be thankful!" Angelo went over to Echo and tried to apologise, despite not knowing how to say it.

* * *

Calypso stormed into his office, where the remaining three and King Bohan were. "You seem put off over something" Bohan remarked, sipping wine from his goblet. "I blame you for this!" Calypso pointed accusingly at Bohan. "What have I done?". "Not just you but everyone in the whole propaganda! I would never have had any reason to install those teleporters on the first floor!" Calypso grimaced. Bohan smiled despite himself. "I wouldn't have said that.". "Why's that?" Calypso asked sarcastically. Bohan pointed to the doors. They gently swung back and forth. Calypso gritted his teeth and disappeared. "Off again" Bohan raised his eyebrows.

Calypso appeared just behind the three in the teleporter room. "Quick! Split up!" Danner yelled. The three went through three different teleporters. "Which ones have-" Calypso could've read them, but _someone_ had left a concussion grenade on the floor. "Damn. I should...calm down first. Yes, that's it. I can't think straight. All this shouting and yelling. Calypso walked back to his office, taking the stairs for a change.

* * *

Cloud arrived at the crash site. There was Sephiroth. Sparring with another sword wielding warrior.

He wore red armour almost all over, except for some wings built on which were a lime shade of green. He held a sword just like any other and still was equal to Sephiroth's amazing power. He wore a red headband, holding up light brown hair almost as spiky as Cloud's. He was a warrior alright, and a good one.

Dart didn't know who this man was, but he sure knew that he needed to be stopped. That was exactly what he planned to do. Just like he always had, he was going to drive out evil.

That was his legacy, after all.

 _ **Author's Note**_

I really have to sleep more. But I love doing these late at night for some reason. Oh well. Calypso has managed to lose a painting, a Chaos Emerald and all the prisoners in one day. Man, he sure fucked up, didn't he? That isn't like Calypso. That painting must mean something pretty special to him. (Subtle hint at plot related material). Angelo and Kain. Well, I originally intended to just have Angelo, but I like the concept of Kain. If I can remember what I'm supposed to do with him. But Angelo and Kain have also messed up big time. What will their superiors have to say? Where have Danner, C.J., Kobe (Major Props to him for his final game in Cleveland) and Lucas gone? Does it matter? Will they be found?. All these questions and more will be answered. Or maybe not. If you ask nicely, I may tell you.


	13. Seattle Battle Pt3

Brooke lay in the rubble of a fallen building. Cole MacGrath did not want to be taken lightly. He was merciless once on the front foot. He allowed no time for rest between attacks, as she had learned the hard way. He was rushing in to finish off the job, when he was stopped. "Ah, ah, ah. Not her." Calypso wagged his finger. "You think I take orders from you?!" Cole tried to punch Calypso, but found his fist being blocked by nothing. "Yes. I do. Was it not me that gave you free will and set you away from your other self?" Cole was powerless to argue. "Fuck you". Calypso smiled. "I thought as much. Anyway, I'm sending in another to help you. Please try and be nice." Cole was released. "Fine. But at least let me take care of that coward." He cracked his knuckles. "I wouldn't allow anyone else to have the honours" Calypso smiled. "Good. But don't take my loyalty for granted. Once he's gone, I'm coming for you" Calypso laughed. "I'll be waiting. Very best of luck to you!" He was gone. Madfang Ragewolf replaced him. "Don't get salty with me, I've got a score to settle too."

Aiden had since hid in a bin after a raging lunatic had taken care of Brooke Augustine. Deciding it was safe to come out, Aiden set about trying to take down the rock tomb Augustine built to encase the others. "How can I do this?". The tomb came crashing down. "Run..." Aiden ran far away as possible from the tomb.

* * *

"Well, I think we can do it next time with more care, but good job Cole!" Delsin went over to give Cole a fistbump. Cole grabbed his arm. "Cole, you okay man?" Delsin looked worried. "That isn't me!" Cole ran towards Delsin. "Huh?" Delsin looked back at the Cole who was about to break his arm. They looked identical, one was red, the other was blue. "Slow down there, buddy boy!" The Cole with his arm smiled cynically. "If you take another step, I'll fry this boy's brains!". Blue Cole stopped. "Very good. You've been learning your english, haven't you?". Cole called out to the other five. "You guys, get out of here! I'll deal with him!". "Yeah, I'd love to see that." Red Cole rolled his eyes. The five moved back, looking for something else to do.

Fetch turned at the last second, into a neon dash. She charged straight for Red Cole. He managed to stop her with his free hand. "Oh, that's precious!" He laughed. "A hero! Look my good self. What a brilliant hero we have here!" Good Cole tensed up. "Hush now, my good self, I want to listen to them when they die." Good Cole lost it. He charged straight for his Evil counterpart. Evil Cole scowled. "So be it.". He let electricity storm through his veins and into the two young conduits. They fell to the ground mortally injured. "Consider that a warning." He spat on their bodies. He stopped his good self with his amp. He slammed the amp through his Good's gut, and watched. Nothing made him smile wider. "I'm...not...losing". Evil Cole frowned. "Pathetic. Where is your sense of reality? You're weak. That's why I'm here." Good Cole laughed. "No, that Calypso is the reason for that."

"Oh? I thought you were the one who agreed to the deal?". Evil Cole taunted. "Am I right?". "Put him down." Evil Cole turned. A Hedgehog. He stood on two feet, with Black and Red fur. A robot stood next to him. "Hey! Move along!" Evil Cole yelled. "This is none of your business!". "Then who's business is this?" The Hedgehog advanced forward. "I think you know who's business this is. Mine. Mine alone.". Evil Cole slammed the amp into the ground, leaving his Good self pinned down. "I can make this my business. You let these people go, and I leave you alone.". Evil Cole laughed. "Oh, I'm _very_ scared. What are you going to do? Raise your quills at me? Hm?".

"When I'm through with you, you'll wish that." The Hedgehog came right up to Evil Cole. "For a Hedgehog, you've got balls, talking to me like that!" Evil Cole hissed. "I am Shadow The Hedgehog! The ultimate life form!". Omega pressed play.

Shadow used Chaos Control immediately. He removed the Amp from Cole and placed the bodies of the three conduits out of the way. He had one more thing to do. He took the Amp and placed it in front of Evil Cole, with the prongs facing up. Finally, he pushed Evil Cole ever so slightly. He resumed his original position and unpaused time. Evil Cole literally fell on his own sword. "Damn it!" He winced as he tugged at the Amp. "Now, if you don't clear of, I won't show so much mercy." Shadow mocked.

 _"Black Hearted Evil"_

Cole woke up. He saw his Evil self tugging on his Amp, trying to dislodge it. He decided against fighting. He needed to get Delsin and Fetch to a safe place. Cole picked up the two unconscious bodies and looked for a safe place.

 _"Brave Hearted Hero"_

Evil Cole finally dislodged the Amp. "Now you're in for it!" He yelled, charging at Shadow. Shadow teleported out of the way and landed a kick to the back of the head. Evil Cole felt the full force of the kick to the back of his head into the cold concrete face of a building he had destroyed. "Pathetic. Start fighting!" Shadow yelled. "Chaos...SPEAR!" Shadow threw the spear. Evil Cole dodged it. "What am I doing?" He thought to himself. "I'm getting my ass handed to me by a talking Hedgehog, and letting that goody-two shoes get away!". "Outta my way!" Evil Cole snapped, taking off in a hurry.

* * *

Cole hid the two in a dumpster, assuming Evil Cole would not be stupid enough to actually looked there, and that the contents weren't going to the dump. But Evil Cole was pretty close.

 _"I see and feel the evil"_

Cole turned. His Evil counterpart stood there with a grin on his face. "Hey" Cole waved. "Hi" Evil Cole walked up to him. "Do you know that I want something, from you?" Evil Cole poked his good self. Evil Cole really wanted to kill him. But he wanted Calypso's head too, and there was only one way he was getting that.

 _"My hands will crush them all"_

The two Coles fired electricity at each other, both connecting, but doing no damage. They launched in with their amps, locking them in place. They glared at each other with burning hatred for one another.

 _"You think you have the answer"_

Cole jumped back and fired ice. It snaked along the ground, spikes charging towards Evil Cole, who used flame blasts to melt the ice. Evil Cole fire fie missiles at Cole, who shot ice back. The ice melted on the flames, extinguishing them.

 _"I laugh and watch you fall"_

Shadow arrived with Omega, in the middle of a fierce stand-off. Cole was beaten badly the first time, but now was a different story. Evil Cole focused on his good counterpart. He wanted to kill that part of him. Cole wanted to rid the world of the evil now separated from him.

 _"Black Hearted Evil or,_

 _Brave Hearted Hero,_

 _I am all, I am all I am!"_

* * *

Sir Daniel fired his bow at the aliens, while making sure to drink plenty of Dragon potion for those Wendigos. Radec was there with him, as was Pupuru, who were using guns and fire magic respectively. Dan still had the Chalice of Souls, so he was able to collect the Wendigos. Good thing too. That Chalice would not stop rattling and jumping like an alarm clock in his bag. Something was seriously wrong with them. "Are we close to any of those trinkets yet?" Radec asked. Dan shook his head. "I see..." Radec teleported off. "Hey! Wait!" Pupuru ran into thin air. Dan said nothing. Radec would probably kill him if he found Dan laughing about him. But nonetheless, he chased Pupuru through the streets of Seattle. After a minute, he caught up. "Aw man, where'd he go?" Pupuru sighed. "Kuuuu" Kuu purred. "Come now, why would you want Radec? He's not interested in you.". Pupuru understood enough of what Dan was trying to say.

"You're lying! I'll show you!" She turned to run off, but Dan grabbed her arm. "I can't let you get killed that easily." Dan protested, dragging her off. He let out a weary sigh over the sound of Pupuru's protests. "This 'Chaos Emerald' had better be worth it." He grumbled. He trudged off, occasionally glancing overhead. The aliens weren't going for him, for some reason. This gave him a little time to think about what was happening. He had left Kiya in the Hall of Heroes, while they were feasting. That was when a portal appeared behind Sir Dan and sucked him up, dumping him on a pirate ship. The rest, you probably know. Zarok was up to his old tricks, and he had back-up.

Taterazay and his troops watched as the skeleton dragged the girl around Seattle. Taterazay had decided to split from the group to look for Devil Jin while the rest of them argued about the best way to take care of those humanoid creatures. They too, were seemingly immune to the aliens, as they weren't being chased. But Chin had seen what was drawing the aliens away. A hulking brute of a man with dark olive skin, wearing a luchador mask was beating up the aliens by throwing them at each other. He seemed to be having a great day. "What do we do, chief?" Kan asked. "We should go and ask what those two want." Taterazay answered, pointing to Dan and Pupuru. "Hey!" Taterazay called. Dan and Pupuru stopped. The skeleton mumbled something and took out his sword. Taterazay put his hands up. "No! We just want to know what you're doing here!". Dan sheathed his sword. "We're here looking for some emeralds." Pupuru explained. Taterazay wanted to reach for his sword. "Why?" He demanded. "Well, there's this guy called Eggman, and he says we need them to save the world. Taterazay narrowed his eyes. "Okay...I'd love to speak with this Eggman first though." "Okay, we just need to find a way-" CRAASH!

Dan's bones scattered everywhere. "What the-" Ton, Chin and Kan were next, sent sprawling. Taterazay and Pupuru went back to back. "It can't be" Taterazay whispered. "It can't." "But it can!" Madfang Ragewolf answered. "Miss me?" Taterazay scowled. "Not particularly". "Who is that?" Pupuru asked, drawing a sword. "Yes Tate, I haven't been introduced. Who is this?" He gestured to Pupuru. "No idea. But I can tell her that you're the enemy here!" Taterazay lunged in with his sword, while Ragewolf blocked with a torpedo spin. "Predictable as ever, Tate!" Ragewolf laughed, resuming his fighting stance. Taterazay landed and turned to Pupuru. "Hey, kid! I'm gonna need your help!". Pupuru looked at her sword. What if that guy, 'Tate' was the bad guy?

"Don't stand there! Do something!". Pupuru snapped out of her daze. Better help Tate anyway. She readied herself, but the time for action never came. Taterazay and Ragewolf just kept jumping around, occasionally locking heads. She walked off with Kuu.

Juan observed the girl. She was no ordinary human being. Only a select few had such powers as she did. But she was still at risk.

"Kuu, I don't feel very well." Kuu didn't respond. He wasn't feeling well either. There was something heavy in the air, and it wasn't showing itself. She didn't have any spells to reveal the forces, or anything that would have effect on them. "Oh, stop moping!" A skeleton appeared before her. "Huh? Who are you?" Pupuru asked. "I'm an associate of your dad" He spoke with an unrealistically thick mexican accent. "Dad?" Pupuru scratched her head. "Yeah, Gigadis". Pupuru's eyes shot wide open. "Gigadis isn't my dad!" The skeleton covered his ears. "Ay ay ay! You are worse than Gigadis! Take a chill pill!" The man sighed. "Anyway, I am Carlos Calaca." Pupuru took a look at Calaca. He wore an almost entirely black suit with a white shirt and red cape. His eyes were red, along with his mustache. None of his facial details seemed natural, like they were all painted on or something.

"What do you want?" Pupuru demanded, losing consciousness. "That is a long story. But I will try my best to explain. Calypso, Gigadis and I all struggle for control over the underworld. They say that they own it, but I own it because I rightfully stole it. Calypso doesn't care much for me, but Gigadis demands that I stop lying. He claims that he will kill me one day, and show me who really dictates the underworld. So one day, out of annoyance, I asked him who owned the underworld. He responded 'Him and his Queen' I asked who that was, and he told me all about you. So I made a deal with him. If you come quietly with me, I shall take back what is rightfully mine, with only Calypso to contend with." Calaca smiled. Pupuru passed out. Calaca frowned. "Am I really that boring?" He asked himself. "What do you think, Juan?" Calaca did a double take "JUAN!"

The humble Agave farmer stood there tall and proud, unaffected by Calaca's forces. "Oh well, my minions shall soon enough take care of you!" Juan turned around and launched a rooster uppercut. All the Wendigos were revealed, but these ones were black instead of white. "Confound it!" Calaca grumbled. "Why are you always getting in my way, Agave Boy? It's futile. It wasn't enough to save El Presidente's daughter, was it?" That hit Juan. "Precisely what I thought. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be off." Calaca grabbed Pupuru and was prepared to leave, until he was hit in the back. "Damn!" Calaca hissed. "Holy Water". Alucard stood there with a smile on his face. "Begone, demon!" Calaca looked. He was outnumbered. Dante, Geralt, Heihachi, Pyramid Head, Nightmare, Sacrifice and Alucard stood there, waiting for the next move. Madfang Ragewolf dropped down next to Calaca, but they weren't alone. Pupuru regained consciousness, and ran back to Juan. The Luchador himself was trying to lift his spirits after those comments. The Wendigos had joined the side of Calaca, both Black and White. Evil Cole and Brooke Augustine dropped down from above, with Good Cole, Delsin and Fetch who had made a swift recovery, Shadow and Omega joining Pupuru and Juan. Taterazay, his men and Sir Daniel joined too.

Radec looked over to the stand-off, deciding to sneak over cloaked.

Zero noticed from the other side and joined Nightmare and Co. at the other side. "Give it up!" Good Cole yelled. "We have you completely surrounded, and outnumbered!". They were right. On the street, there were no alleys, and the All-Stars stood either side of the villains in the middle. Augustine smiled. "That's what you think"

* * *

"What is the meaning of this?!" Eggman yelled as Kat held the Egg Mobile in mid air. "We want to know what you're doing here!" Kat answered. "I'm trying to help here! Let me go!" "Silence mortal!" Zeus bellowed. "Just who the heck do you think you are?!" Eggman demanded. "I am Zeus! King of all Gods!". "and I'm the president of Jupiter, get out of my way or help me!" Eggman retaliated. "Is that anyway to behave in front of your ruler? Act as a mortal and kneel before me!" Zeus demanded. "I think you should act your own age and die!" Eggman retaliated. Zeus scowled. "I have-" "Okay, enough!" Kat yelled, tired of the bickering. "I believe you, we should all just, go down there, and help out" Kat released the Egg Mobile. Zeus glared at Kat. "I'll see that man dies soon enough." He turned into an Eagle and flew off. Kat sighed and flew after the Egg Mobile and Zeus.

"There!" Kat pointed. "Dan, Aiden, Damien and T-Bone!" The three landed next to the other four. "Who's the fat guy?" Dan asked. "I'm not fat!" Eggman yelled. "I'm going to have a sore throat with all this shouting" He grumbled. "Anyway, where are you going?" Kat asked. "Just there. We see the freak thing, just standing there, so we better check it out. That's how they ended up in the very same stand off.

Calaca smiled. "We did not fail to prepare. Alright! Come on out guys!" Black Doom, Jorhan Staahl, Magusar, Gigadis, Poseidon, Zarok, Sigma and Devil Jin all miraculously appeared. Sigma's mavericks and Helghast troops surrounded the All Stars. "I haven't come here just do be outdone by some dimwits!" He triumphantly pressed a button on the Egg Mobile, calling in his Egg Pawns. "Attack!" Eggman yelled.

That was the starting whistle.

 ** _Fight!_**

Omega fired at Devil Jin, who soared into the air while the Helghast troops and Wendigos were fighting with the Egg Pawns. Shadow teleported right in front of one of Black Doom's champions who roared at him in response. Shadow threw a chaos spear straight through the alien and went straight for Black Doom. Black Doom teleported out of the way, but Shadow anticipated as much and turned to land a kick to Black Doom's chest.

Evil Cole went straight for his good self, while his good self locked his amp in with the evil. Ragewolf jumped in to help but found himself being tackled by Taterazay. Taterazay slashed at Ragewolf, who jumped out of the way. Taterazay charged in, but then a concrete pillar appeared before him. Brooke Augustine fired concrete shrapnels, which Taterazay blocked with his shield. The shrapnels were eventually conquered by Sacrifice's, who used his rock fist to bring rocks out from underneath Augustine. Augustine retaliated by rolling into a concrete ball and flattening Sacrifice. Geralt readied himself with the Quen sign. The boulder smashed off him, but it was the boulder that was destroyed and not him. "Now!"Geralt yelled. Dante rushed in with Rebellion, slashing wildly at Augustine, while firing Ebone and Ivory.

Pupuru fired a blast of ice at the sorcerer Zarok, trapping his feet. "Alright, steady does it" Zarok muttered as he cast a spell. "There we-" He didn't have time to complete the sentence as Sir Daniel smashed his teeth out with his warhammer. Zarok blacked out. Sir Daniel celebrated his victory momentarily, until he saw Calaca dash over. He was knocked off balance by a soccer ball, then blown back by an energy blast. "Be more careful, nitwit!" Radec growled. Him and Messi had just saved Daniel, and he knew it. "Come on guys!" This is no time for fighting!" Zero reminded them. "I think this is a perfect time for fighting!" Sigma smiled. Zero lunged at him with the Z-Blade.

"We've lost Zarok!" Ragewolf yelled. "Revive him or something!" Magusar made his way over to Zarok. "Halt!" Daniel waved his sword at Magusar. "You won't be reviving anyone on my watch!" Magusar scoffed. "Out of my way!" Delsin and Fetch dropped in. "Okay Skeleton dude, we'll take care of this guy, you help that old guy with the water boy." Sir Dan looked over to see Zeus wrestling with his brother, Poseidon. Valiantly, the hero of Gallowmere rushed off to help.

Gigadis walked around Seattle in search of Pupuru. He didn't really seem to care that it was a warzone at the moment, until he was stopped by a man in a pink gi. "Hold it!" He yelled. Gigadis stopped. "You're not going anywhere without a fight!" Dan Hibiki struck a few poses. "This is sweet, but I really must be on my way" Dan cracked his knuckles. "I hope you're ready for a beating!". He focused. "Shinkuuuuuuu" Energy began to form between Dan's hands. Gigadis scratched his head. "What?" "UUUUUUUUUUU" The ball of energy got bigger. "Oh, damn" Gigadis' eyes widened. He readied a blast of his own dark energy. Gigadis was first to fire. "GADOUKEN!" Dan yelled, allowing the energy blast to collide with the dark energy. A massive explosion resulted. Gigadis looked on to see Dan celebrating. "Oh my God! I cannot believe that worked! Woo Hoo!" He stopped immediately after noticing Gigadis. "Er-I mean, you're tricks are no match for the power of Saikyo!" Gigadis smiled. "Well then, lets see what they can offer, shall we?"

Dan jumped in with a Dan-Kuakyaku. Gigadis blocked, allowing Dan to harmlessly ricochet off him. Gigadis readied his claws and began to slash at Dan, many of the slashes finding their mark. "Having fun?" Gigaids laughed as Dan picked himself up. "Just you wait!" He broke into a pose. "Woo Hoo! I'm awesome! Don't underestimate me!" Dan got closer with each and every taunt. Gigadis couldn't help but be dumbstruck by the sheer patheticness of the move. Dan unleashed a Koryuken, stunning Gigadis. "How am I losing to this joke?" Gigadis gritted his teeth. "Alright, time to step it up a notch"

T-Bone, Damien and Aiden had Staahl right where they wanted him. Already, they had killed most of his men and had him on the ground. Things were starting to look up for the All Stars. "Hold on!" Lets see if we can set up a connection!" Damien suggested. Aiden and T-Bone nodded and tried to get away from the action. "Fire!" Staahl's remaining men tried to get the three, but they were easily taken care of. They set up the CTobot generator. "Okay, let's see if this works" Damien muttered, punching in codes.

The Egg Pawns had already gotten rid of most of the Wendigos and their spirits. Sigma took notice. "Alright, boys! Take care of those scrap heaps!" Storm Eagle swooped in, blowing the Egg Pawns back with gusts of wind. Flame Mammoth jumped down to the ground, causing the Pawns to explode. "Nice job buddy" Spark Mandrill high fived the over-sized Maverick. "Don't celebrate yet, we've got to defeat the chubby one!" Chill Penguin reminded him. Armoured Armadillo was next to arrive. "Where is he?".

They didn't have time to respond, as one of his robots made his way over. "Dr. Eggman does not wish to do business with you" It was a silver hedgehog. "'You our boss or something?" Chill Penguin readied his arm cannon. "Get lost!" He didn't have time to react as another spiky blue ball took off with his arm. "WHA?!" Chill Penguin yelled. Silver Sonic smashed into the maverick, getting rid of him. "Storm! Take care of that one, we'll go get the rest!"

Omega came face to face with Devil Jin. "Why are you hiding?" Omega asked. Devil Jin smiled. "You know I don't want to spoil the surprise for everyone." Omega glared. He knew this wasn't the real Devil Jin. For a start, he had two legs. "There won't be a surprise to spoil." Omega fired the Omega Cannon, watching as Devil Jin flew out of the way. He landed on top of a building. "Oh well Omega, guess you won't beat me today." He took notice of Juan. "How did you-" Juan punched him in the gut, then the face, then the gut again. Then he kneed Devil Jin in the chin. Jin fell off the building with Juan in hot pursuit. Devil Jin was getting ready to fly off, until Juan Frogslammed him. They continued all the way to the ground, destroying whatever remained on the streets below.

Juan looked to see...two Devil Jins? That couldn't be right. Although one was in no condition to fight, with one leg missing and lying in a pool of his own blood. The fit Jin wasted no time. He slashed at Juan, grabbing him and flying high into the sky. Juan punched at Jin, provoking a reaction. Jin slammed i=him into the nearest building and proceeded to fly downwards, smashing Juan through every single floor. Juan remained patient, and used his Olmec headbutt to hurt Jin. That one hurt. Juan latched on to the building he was dragged through, and used a goat fly attack to smash Jin through the opposite building. Jin slashed at Juan, letting him fall to the floor. Juan latched on once again and used goat climb. He connected with Devil Jin, sending him flying into the air. Juan dropped down, along with Devil Jin, who was...smoking? Yeah. There was the occasional spark.

Devil Jin smiled. Juan's eyes widened, all too late. The Blast knocked him miles back, leaving him at the feet of Nightmare and Pyramid Head. Nightmare and Pyramid Head readied themselves. SLAM! Holy crap! This blast was pretty strong, even pushing Pyramid Head back. Pyramid Head grunted, and punched the blast. It hurt, but he ignored the pain. Nightmare tried the same but found that he too couldn't reverse it. However, they could still hold the blast in place. But for how long?

Alucard sparred with his father, when an explosion gathered both their attentions. "What?" Dracula stared. Alucard slashed through him. Dracula slashed back, but was parried. Pupuru froze Dracula in place. "Nice work, young sorceress. Let us take care of the other fiends at work here." Alucard looked around. "Like that ruffian over there!" Pupuru sighed. "Gigadis- wait!" Her reaction immediately changed when she saw him beating up another guy.

He was beaten pretty badly. He was bleeding profusely and looked like he had broken a few bones. He had a black eye and his pink gi was torn. "Where are your Saikyo arts now?" Gigadis mocked. Pupuru and Alucard rushed in. Gigadis didn't even divert his attention. He simply fired a blast of dark energy at the two, knocking them back. "Who dares-OH CRAP!" Gigadis rushed over. "My Queen, I'm sososososososososososo sorry you aren't hurt are you?!" No response. They were both out cold. Gigadis turned to Dan Hibiki in a pile on the floor. It had to be his fault. If not for his pathetic distraction, Gigadis would not have been so careless.

Dan barely maintained consciousness. He was blacking out. But he felt so...humiliated. That guy Gigadis had wiped the floor with him. He was going to die. He never avenged his father. He hadn't educated Sakura and Blanka on Saikyo arts, and worst of all, he still hadn't paid his phone bill. Something inside Dan snapped, and it wasn't just another bone. It felt good. Really good. He heard Gigadis approaching. What better time than to exact revenge on this newly made foe?

Gigadis was ready to kill that ass. But then Dan started to floating. He was glowing purple. "Back for more, are you?" Gigadis laughed. "Let's have it then!" Dan turned to face Gigadis. That was when Gigadis noticed something was wrong. He was glowing a dark shade of purple. His gi had an old symbol of sorts glowing red and his eyes were glowing purple. Dan ran in for a punch. Gigadis slashed. Dan grabbed his arm and began to twist. Gigadis fired a blast of dark energy at Dan, forcing him to let go, but not even causing so much as a flinch. Gigadis followed up with another blast. "GADOUKEN!" Dan yelled. The Gadouken obliterated everything in it's path, and found Gigadis. Gigadis coughed. "Wh-what's gotten in to you?!" He yelled accusingly. Dan smiled cynically. "DIE!" He ran in for the kill.

Poseidon was forced to retreat. Kat gave chase. "After him!" Zeus yelled, running off with Sir Daniel to find Pupuru and Alucard sprawled across the road, along with another man. He was still awake, breathing heavily. Dan lay unconscious next to him. Daniel and Zeus scratched their heads, trying to figure out what had happened. All of a sudden, Gigadis disappeared. Now things were starting to get weird.

Taterazay looked around frantically. "Where'd he go?!" Ragewolf had just disappeared in the heat of battle. Shadow and Omega looked around for Black Doom, but found no traces. "What do you mean 'They just left'?!" Eggman demanded. "Exactly what I say. One minute they were there, and then they left." Silver Sonic repeated. "I can't believe this! That cowards Sigma talks me down and then runs off!" Delsin, Fetch, Zero and Messi returned. "They're gone!" Zero explained, wildly gesticulating. "Settle down!" Eggman sighed. "I'm aware that they're gone. Lets just regroup, then discuss what happened.

"I was fighting one of those robots, and then gone!" Heihachi explained. "Yes, yes, I know!" Eggman drummed his fingers. "I'm pretty sure we all know that by now!". Everyone went silent. The CTobots had since began construction on the remains of Seattle. "Hey" Taterazay spoke up. "It's not all bad." Everyone looked at him. Taterazay walked to the centre of the group and reached inside his scarf. He produced a red emerald and a dark blue emerald. Eggman beamed. Taterazay placed them in the centre of the group. Shadow walked up to the pile and placed his yellow emerald down. "That's three, but where's that d-" "Here!" Eggman chucked a green emerald into the pile. "I don't want you to ruin this with references like that!". Cole checked his pockets. He produced a light blue emerald. Into the pile it went.

Eggman smiled. "Five Chaos Emeralds! Brilliant!" Some of the group scratched their heads. "I'll explain later" Eggman announced, scooping up the emeralds and placing them in a compartment on the Egg Mobile.

"So now what?" Kat asked. "Well, now I should bring you to where you'll be staying!" Eggman answered. "Where's that?" Aiden asked. But before Eggman could answer, a CTobot arrived. "Incoming transmission" Its camera head displayed a hologram of a man. He had a beard and brown wavy hair. He wore a bandana and an almost entirely grey suit. "I don't know who's receiving this. This is an SOS distress signal from Manaus, Brazil. We can't evacuate all these people from their homes and our ammo is running dangerously low. Send help." The transmission ended.

"Okay then, I guess we're going to Brazil" Delsin muttered. "It would appear so." Eggman grunted. All he really wanted to do was take a break. He really wasn't cut out for the good guy thing.

 _ **Author's Note**_

Hi! I'm back! I just had writer's block, but I'm back! The All Stars have been baffled by their disappearing foes, where have they gone? Who knows? Dan Hibiki has unearthed something. Maybe it was best left unearthed... And of course, didn't Ragewolf, Magusar, Poseidon and Staahl all die? Well, did they?

Find out next time where all the villains have gone! Until then, thanks for reading!


	14. Villains' Meeting

"Mornin' Polygon Man" Edgar Ross tipped his hat at Polygon Man. "Hello Edgar. What's the latest?". Ross spat. "That man Staahl kicked the bucket". Polygon Man sighed. "Calypso has him now?". Ross nodded. "Thanks for that power anywho, I'd be long dead without it." "Thanks" Polygon Man turned to the air. "Say, you always seem t'be complainin' about Calypso, so why do ya keep him?". "I need him, too powerful to be lost. I need all the help I can get." Polygon Man answered. "The most powerful of my soldiers are him, Gigadis, Zarok, Izanagi, Black Doom, Augustine and Sephiroth."

"Hang on, what about that thing there...never shows his face." Polygon Man smiled. "Of course he's one of the most powerful, but I can't say his name. Him and I have an agreement." Edgar sighed. "Okay then, be seein' you." "I'm calling you all for a meeting in three hours!" Polygon Man called out. He was left alone. "Oh well, I'm so close now, to finally getting revenge on Kutaragi. Then I'll no longer have to live here."

The place wasn't too shabby, with Hexagonal prisms of different heights arranged in no particular way, with shapes flying through the air. It felt eerie, unwelcoming, but strangely beautiful.

Three hours passed.

"Okay, may I have your attention, everyone?!" Polygon man yelled. The entire place had taken the form of a session hall. Fortunately, there was enough space, for all the villains there. "I want to bring to your attention, the Playstation All Stars!" A picture flashed up on the screen behind Polygon Man of Ken Kutaragi. "Oh wow, I'm shocked you want to talk about them." Madfang Ragewolf scoffed. Polygon Man ignored him. "They are being brought together, it seems. By a multitude of teams. I'm going to go through them now." The screen changed.

EXHIBIT 1

Eggman Enterprises

Leader: Ivo Robotnik

Eggman's picture flashed up on the screen, along with various pictures of Badniks.

"Dr. Ivo Robotnik is the most intelligent of the leaders, using his robots to aid him in his own personal endeavours. Getting the Chaos Emeralds! We must keep them from his clutches!". "Yeah, it'd be really stupid if we left them lying around for the All-Stars to waltz out the door with, wouldn't it, Calypso?" Gigadis teased. Calypso glared at Gigadis. "But we don't even use those." A figure objected. "They're worthless.". Polygon Man shrugged. "Not to the All-Stars.". "Even to the All-Stars. Unless they get all of our inventory, then they're hopeless." Nefarious objected. "If they're so hopeless, how come you haven't got them all yet?" Polygon Man cut in. "Hold on! I'll address that later."

EXHIBIT 2

Department of Unified Protection (D.U.P.)

Leader: Eugene Sims

Eugene was shown standing in front of a battalion of DUP Troops.

"Eugene Sims and the DUP are slightly less of a direct threat, but they could hinder our invasions with enough help." Augustine laughed. "Those guys don't stand a chance." Daedlus howled. "Shut Up! We'll discuss everything later!". "Who put you in charge?" Cortex objected. Daedlus roared. "I see...never mind." Cortex responded meekly. "Coward" Black Doom muttered. "As I was saying, the DUP do have help. That of Eggman Enterprises and our final exhibit!"

EXHIBIT 3

FOXHOUND

Leader: Big Boss (Real name unknown)

The man called Big Boss was shown saluting with the United States flag in the background.

"Unlike our other two exhibits, there is nothing special about FOXHOUND. What's special, is their tech. So advanced, we can only dream of getting them. They are an extremely skilled bunch who will do anything to get the job done!". "That's it?" Bohan yawned. "We should've wiped them all out long before now". Polygon Man smiled. "But, they have the aid of Kutaragi. With that, we could still beat them, but much less easily. Plus they-" "Get on with the All-Stars!" A voice called out. "There are some all stars who are more powerful than others. You need to watch these ones very carefully. There are nine in total."

Kratos

Nariko

Pyramid Head

E-123 Omega

Deadpool

Pupuru

Juan Acuagate

Mr. Ash

Nightmare

"Seems fair" Gigadis announced. The back of his head was swiftly met with Sigma's fist. "Leave it go, ya perv!". Gigadis scowled. Calypso frowned. "Any...weaknesses?" Polygon Man shook his head. "I'll get to that" Calypso sighed. "I guess I'll just have to beat Ash the old fashioned way, then. I seriously just can't wait that long." Gigadis remembered. "What about that man in a pink Gi?" Polygon man looked sceptically at Gigadis. "Daniel Hibiki? He's a joke!" Gigadis looked sceptical. "You must have sent out weak henchmen to lose to him!" Polygon Man concluded. "Of course" Gigadis played along.

"Alright, now let's get into detail about these!" Polygon Man restored order to the meeting.

KRATOS

-The God of War

-Immortal Deity

-Extremely malicious

"Kratos will attempt to kill you the instant he sees you, and more likely than not, will succeed." "Oh, gee, thanks" Ragewolf spat, earning a few laughs. "...You can use this to your advantage. Allow him to be enraged. Dodge all his attacks without fighting back, then strike when he's down. That's the best thing to do."

NARIKO

-Wielder of the Heavenly Sword

-Protected from it's wrath by All-Star Power.

-Extremely malicious, but smarter than Kratos.

"Nariko is a more...well rounded warrior than Kratos, but with one fatal flaw." Several hands went up. "She is just a normal human being" The hands went down. "She can be harmed by any conventional weapons, but the Heavenly Sword makes it hard for that to happen. Even then, she is hard to harm with conventional weapons, but not impossible." Sigma smiled. "My Mavericks have advanced lock on tech. Leave them get her." Bohan sighed. "The Heavenly Sword is not so easily conquered by your 'advanced lock on tech'" Sigma countered. "You wouldn't know that, you've never had it. Which is why you've lost to her!" Sigma sat back in his seat. "Proceed."

PYRAMID HEAD

-Physical manifestation of guilt

-Extremely vicious and powerful

-Unknown why he exists now

"This is..." "Nightmare fuel?" Cortex asked. "Essentially. The idea is that Pyramid Head is supposed to only manifest when someone travels to Silent Hill for repentance, Pyramid Head shows up to give them that until they learn to forgive themselves. Then he leaves." "But then, why does he exist?" A skunk in the front row asked. He wore mostly green clothes, although it was difficult to tell what they were, as his figure was abnormally cartoonish. He had a great big bushy tail and grey hair which stood up at the front. "Le Paradox, I am not certain. We can only assume that All-Star power keeps him alive. In which case, his time may be finite." Le Paradox smiled. "So all we have to do is wait?" Polygon Man paused. "I...never thought about it that way...but...yeah. Very much so."

E-123 OMEGA

-Last of the E-Series robots created by Doctor Ivo Robotnik.

-Broke his programming and rebelled against his creator

-Extremely Intelligent, Powerful and Dexterous

"Omega is probably the smartest of the All Stars, in terms of knowledge. He learns about his opponents upon encountering them, allowing him to predict their every move."

"There's no denying that Omega is powerful, it makes me sad he doesn't want to join our side, but he thinks with his guns. Omega doesn't strategize. Keep this in mind."

Polygon Man smiled. "Thank you".

DEADPOOL

-Real name: "Wade" Winston Wilson

-A science experiment

-Extremely Good Looking

Polygon Man sighed in annoyance. How the hell had Deadpool even gotten access to his computer? "As you can see, Deadpool is very cocky, but not to be underestimated. He can regrow limbs and even survive having his head chopped off. He is a highly skilled mercenary who has never been killed by anyone. Given who he has faced over the years, this is rather impressive. "How are we supposed to compete?" Nefarious complained. "Easy. I searched high and low, but I eventually managed to find a material known as Carbonadium. It is a metal which nullifies any healing factors which, no matter how strong will be disabled. "May I see it?" Nefarious asked as his interest spiked. He walked down to the center of the hall and watched as a rack encased in glass rose from the floor. "I present, the Carbonadium sword!" Polygon Man beamed. "It looks...peculiar." Nefarious mused. Polygon Man looked. A trout. There was a name carved into the side of the fish. DEADPOOL. Nefarious sighed in defeat and threw the fish away. A green hand caught it. A Goblin. He wore gold armour and had a golden spear. Gundahar. Gundahar took a bite out of the fish. "Eeewww, put that away!" Ragewolf moaned. "I hate those things!" Gundahar grunted and continued to eat the fish.

Polygon Man went for the next name, ignoring the message that said: "Thanks you for your Carbonadium Sword" under Deadpool.

PUPURU

-14 Year Old Sorceress

-Talent in Sorcery discovered purely by accident.

-Queen of Hell

Polygon Man sighed, he really needed to put a password on that thing. Gigadis felt slightly relieved after everyone's gaze was averted from him to the projection.

"Pupuru may not be as powerful as any of the others, but she is fortuitous and wise. And NOT the Queen of Hell. Gigadis rolled his eyes. "Supposing we were to come up against her, how must we prepare?" Calypso asked. "Well, be prepared for fire and ice spells. There really isn't anything to say." "But-" "MOVING ON!" Polygon Man moved on to the next All Star.

JUAN ACUAGATE

-Agave Farmer

-Died 150 years ago

-Took on the role of a Luchador.

"Juan is mysterious. He relies on no weapon. He does all the talking with his fists." Calaca grumbled as Gigadis and Calypso stared at him. "He has the ability to travel between the worlds of the living and dead, which may not have much use now, but it's just something to be wary of." "Tell me! What is the way to defeat this Luchador?!" Calaca demanded. "Use ranged attacks. All the time." Polygon Man smiled.

MR. ASH

-Real Name Unknown

-Pronounced dead on 5th June, 1555.

-Mysteriously reappeared on Earth in 2005.

"I think I'll do the talking here." Calypso smiled. "When I died, I went to Hell. I was punished by being chased around by a demon you all know by now, Minion. After two years, I managed to outrun Minion and make it all the way to Ash. He was a big demolition derby fan, and so entrusted me with organising it. He gave me Black, the most prized of his demons to help. But that was a big mistake. I overthrew him three years later, in 2003. I originally intended to just sit there and do nothing, but I had since grown fond of the idea of a demolition derby. So I organised the Twisted Metal contest in 2005, explaining why he was there. To take back what he wanted. He is a great threat, but I'll soon see he's taken care of. The day he dies in a Twisted Metal contest will be the happiest day of my life." Calypso smiled sadistically. Polygon Man shuddered. "Moving on"

NIGHTMARE

-Human form of the blade which he wields.

-Feeds of life force of those around him

-Undying thirst for complete control

"Seems pretty evil" Gigadis commented. "It would appear so...but there are those of the All Stars who keep him in line. Plus, we'll never convince him to join us." Polygon Man explained. "So tat just about does it. Izanagi, Bohan, Sigma, Nefarious. You know what I want you all to do." The four nodded and left the crystal area.

"Hey wait!" Sephiroth demanded. "We were in fights before this! What's happened there?" Polygon Man thought. "Oh, okay, I see what you mean. I have no way of knowing where exactly you are at any given moment, but I do have the power to recall you whenever I wish. So I just recall you when I feel like it, and that's how you end up here." He explained. "Time simply resumes in the locations where you were. It appears to your foes that you have simply vanished." Sephiroth was satisfied.

"So, what do we do while we wait?" Jin asked, growing increasingly bored. "Maybe fix my leg or something?" Calypso shook his head. "I can't do that. You need to be dead first." Devil Jin turned to Polygon Man. "What about you? Can't you replace my leg?". Polygon Man shook his head. "I haven't quite perfected it yet. I'd have to control it for you if you wanted it that badly." Devil Jin flew off to sulk. Flying everywhere was going to become a chore.

Polygon Man stared at him. The commotion below seemed to be taking place in another world. His most powerful soldier. "You know I know who you are, you don't have to hide." Polygon Man told him. "That is my decision" He snapped. "Why do you trust all these people? It's the same question." Polygon Man admitted defeat. "I'll take them down, but I know you want everyone to be a winner, so I'll wait." He walked off. "Thank you-" "That will do, Polygon." The shadow snapped as it took off. "I think I need to improve their chemistry...and maybe have a friendship class once a week, for good measure."


	15. Fearless Warriors

"1,000" Nariko had counted. 1,000 of Bohan's men had fallen at her hands. Or the Heavenly sword. Her tribe had sworn to protect the blade. It's power so great, it could kill by touching someone. So she was another victim of it. At most, she had two days to live, and she was going to make the most out of them, by making the ruthless King Bohan regret ever attempting to steal the sword.

"Well, we all know that she's just a girl. Could be harmed by anything" Bohan repeated to himself as more and more of his men closed in on her. She sliced through them all. No matter. There were hundreds upon thousands upon ten thousands upon hundred thousands who would willingly fight for him. He watched the screen intently. Polygon Man had given him the screen, telling him it would allow him to view Nariko wherever she was. Sigma and Nefarious were with him. "Seriously, why don't ya trust me? I could get this job done in seconds!" Sigma complained. "I know that. I'll give you your chance when you're ready"

"Whenever that will be" Bohan thought to himself. "It would be the crime of the century for my army not to succeed. I've made escape impossible, assigning thousands upon thousands of men to all the borders, land and sea. So long as no one escapes before they set up in two hours." Bohan smiled. "But what re the chances of that happening? Once it all comes together, I can finally defeat that wretched Nario, claim the Heavenly sword for my own, and then everyone will answer." He smiled. "That Polygon Man may be the greatest thing ever to happen my army!"

* * *

In the pacific ocean, there was a ship feared throughout the seven seas. The Jackdaw. It's crew captained by Edward Kenway. A Welsh man. Half pirate, half assassin. He wore an assassin's robe, but it was adorned with leather straps lined with guns, ammunition and other weapons. He had blond hair tied back in a ponytail and a beard. "Land ho, captain!" The cry came from the crow's nest. Ed looked over. It wasn't foggy, so it was easy to see the land to the port side. "I see. No port to dock at." Edward thought. "Are we docking there or what?" Anne Bonny, the ship's quartermaster piped up. "I'm thinking" "Well, the worst thing to happen would be for someone to board us, which we are more than capable of holding off. Plus we're dangerously low on some supplies." Ed paused. "Name a few". "Water, Food, Gunpowder, Tobacco, Rum, need I go on?" Edward smiled in defeat. "Okay, we'll dock." Anne walked off. "Just be prepared for attacks."

The ship had docked on the beach. They had to swim a short distance as to keep the ship in water, but still took their weapons with them. "Where to, Cap'n?" One of the crew asked. "Just keep moving inland." Edward ordered. "We'll come across a village soon enough."

* * *

The Traveller walked through the bamboo forest. Such a peaceful place. He had stopped on several occasions to watch Pandas eat the bamboo and even tried some himself. Not worth it. He kept on walking, leaving the forest and moving on to open plains. There were rivers and tall grass. The animals here were more hostile, but they did him no harm. The tigers growled at him, the Elephants tried to spray water in his face and he on one occasion came too close to the river and had to run away as an alligator crawled out and chased him.

But eventually, he came across something he had never encountered before. A Village. People were going about their everyday lives, with little to no people taking notice of him. That was when the soldiers came to the village. "Time to pay up!" One of them yelled. The people went into their homes and produced bags for the soldiers. "We'll be back in a month's time for more!" The leader called out. The Traveler thought. Should he follow the soldiers? If so, why? "You!" The Leader called out to the Traveler. The Traveler appeared startled. "Where's your bit?" The Traveler looked around. What was he supposed to do?

"He doesn't have any" A soldier finished frisking the Traveler. "Right. You, come with us!" The Leader ordered as the Traveler was thrust onto the back of a horse. The soldiers set off on horseback to wherever it was they were going.

* * *

"KNEEL BEFORE ME!" Kratos yelled, slamming the Blades of Athena into the fort walls. The army of Bohan was falling. "Warn Izanagi!" An archer yelled before an arrow flew through his skull. The young scout rushed off to the Lord's chamber, to find Izanagi casually reading a book. "My Lord! We're under attack!" Izanagi looked up. His appearance was unlike anything else ever seen. He wore a metal mask and a strange coat which looked like it was part of his anatomy. His legs were elevated by blades that came out of the soles of his feet. There was something otherworldly about his entire appearance.

He put the book down and took his sword. "I'll see what I can do" He said, leaving the scout alone in the room. Kratos had just torn down the walls and the place looked like a bloodbath. Izanagi watched as the remaining soldiers fearfully faced up to Kratos. Izanagi went back to his chambers. He clapped and the screen assembled. "What is it?" Bohan asked. "I've got a few problems on my hands!" "I'll be heading to your palace, this fort is overrun" Bohan stopped. "Overrun by whom?" Kratos slammed the doors down. "I see" Bohan mused. "I-" One of the blades slammed into the screen, piercing Izanagi. Izanagi tried t teleport away, trying to harness his powers. "Come on!" Izanagi yelled as he tried to pull against the blades of Athena. Kratos, realising he wasn't making progress, charged forward and knocked Izanagi off his feet.

He grabbed Izanagi by the scruff of his neck and began his interrogation. "WHAT MADNESS IS THIS?!" He yelled. Izanagi didn't answer. Instead, they were both gone in a flash of light. He appeared in a room surrounded by all sorts of creatures. Kratos threw Izanagi to the ground. Kratos looked around. A human, an alien, a robot and Izanagi. Kratos readied the Blades of Athena. Then, he felt something hit him hard. He was slammed through the ceiling, unable to react due to being caught off guard. He felt himself being thrown far away, and then landing.

* * *

"Lara?" Sam called out. Lara hadn't been herself. Her and Sam had split after Yamatai, with Lara going to Siberia and Sam going to Mongolia. Lara was looking at a stone Sam had given her, becoming increasingly obsessed with it. There were drawings, and writings in a language so uncommon, no one could translate it. Someone far too eager to give it away gave it to Sam, Sam didn't have much interest in it, but decided to keep it for Lara. They were both in Mongolia, looking for anywhere related to the stone. It lead them all around the small town where Sam had found the rock. That was until they found some tour guides, with english in them. "What about here?" Lara pointed. 'The Heavenly Sword exhibition'. So Lara and Sam found themselves trekking to a small and very run down looking exhibition. For the so called 'Heavenly Sword' it didn't attract many tourists. "Look Lara. I'm going to look elsewhere, you can do what you like here." Sam walked off. But Lara knew there was something here. There was a grave that wasn't filled in, with a sword in there. "Must be the Heavenly Sword" Lara said to herself. She tried to get in closer. That was when she touched the sword. Her head started to spin as images of bloody conflict and other things flew into her head. Whispers and screams all flew out, until it all came to a screeching halt. "Lift up the sword, and place the rock in the hole, with the side showing the dove defeating the raven facing up. Then place the sword down on top of the rock and wait."

"Who are you?" Lara asked. "Let's just say, I am the sword. I talk to all the people who pick me up, but they didn't talk back like that. However, I am grateful for you wielding me, it's sooo nice to finally have someone to talk to." Lara placed the stone in the hole. "What do you mean, 'wield'? I don't want to wield you." The sword controlled itself. "Of course, forgive me for getting so carried away. But I fear that right now, I must send you to another place, as my master demands it." Lara quickly climbed out of the grave. "Wait, what?! I didn't agree to any of this, and where is your master?!" The sword chuckled. "I'm not telling you. It's way to farfetched for even me to understand, so I'll give someone else the honours of explaining. A portal opened up next to the sword in the grave. "Good luck!" The sword called out as the portal sucked up Lara, despite her protests. "Wait, what?!" Lara was still looking for answers as she found herself surrounded by dead bodies. The landscape was much different. It wasn't lush green or anything, but there were no settlements. Where was she?

* * *

Sora looked on at the pirates who came towards the village. He had planned to leave, but seeing these pirates were approaching, he decided to stay and make sure they didn't cause trouble. They asked around for some directions, evident from the pointing and other gestures given. Sora followed the pirates to the marketplace where they traded some of their goods for food, water and other supplies. Sora was just getting ready to leave until the soldiers came. "Oi!" One of them shouted. "'You Edward Kenway?" The pirate didn't respond. The soldier held up a portrait of Edward. "Says 'ere, you're a wanted man in the entire British Empire!" Edward smiled. "You're saying that, assuming I'm Edward Kenway. Plus, why are you interested in what the British Empire wants with me? They don't even want me." The Soldier crumpled up the portrait and tossed it aside. "Don't play dumb with me. 'Else I'll break your arms, got it? Now, come quietly, and there won't be any trouble." "For you" The soldier turned. "What do you mean, 'for me'?" He asked. But he knew the answer to that. Swords were drawn.

"Kill the lot of 'em!" The commander yelled. "Charge!" Edward retaliated. Sora didn't know what to do. He didn't want to be caught helping outlaws, but he also didn't want to help enforce an oppressive government. Both sides seemed decent, but they had their undeniable flaws. Edward Kenway though, certainly wasn't flawed when it came to combat. Wielding two swords and an assortment of bombs and guns, he made everything look so easy. Under one shield. A bullet pierced another shield. A berserker dart struck another soldier, so he killed three more soldiers before dying himself. The soldiers numbers had dwindled, with whatever few soldiers remaining being forced to retreat. "Lets give chase!" The pirates cheered. Edward stuck out his sword. "No. It isn't worth it. Let us return to the ship with what we have."

Sora looked down at the bodies of soldiers. The people seemed...happy. They each took what they could from the soldiers and returned home with it. Not very respectful, but they definitely didn't have much. Sora looked to the distance to just see the pirates walking away in the distance. Sora made his decision. He ran after the pirates.

The traveller watched as the young boy ran after the pirates. He was probably filled to the brim with questions, like how had they done it, why had they done it, and what would they do next. So the traveller decided to follow the boy, hoping to get answers.

* * *

A purple dragon flew through the air, observing the small villages below. They seemed peaceful, but the naked dead bodies irked him, and so he had to check it out. It could lead to answers as much as anything in this world could. It was just a regular thursday, and Spyro had been sucked through a portal into this fantasy world, which he had been stuck in for close to a week. But that wasn't the only thing weird that had happened recently. A month or so ago, he had gone to a far off land to end an evil, but had found instead a warrior who's skill with a sword surpassed his own elemental and flying skills. But that wasn't important right now. He had already scared off some people with his appearance, so he was looking for someone who had more authority in this place.

Like those soldiers on horseback who were obviously trying to get away from something. Spyro flew down. The soldiers on horseback fell of their horses immediately when they saw Spyro. "No ,wait! I just want to be taken to your leader!" The Soldiers weren't listening. "Kill it!" One of them yelled. The other soldier fired a crossbow at Spyro, which Spyro incinerated. "I don't have time for this" Spyro thought. He flew off, leaving the soldiers to themselves. He decided to fly in one direction for as long as he could, flying out to the ocean. He was enjoying himself until he narrowly avoided a harpoon. Spyro looked down and saw the ships. They worked for the same person that the soldiers did. And boy were there lots of ships. It was pretty clear that they were trying to prevent someone from leaving, and that included him, so Spyro decided to fly back inland. He managed to find a large group of people wielding weapons, a colourful cast of characters. Maybe they had answers? Spyro flew down there.

"What kind of a creature are you?" Edward mused as he examined the Traveler. He refused to remove his clothes, leaving only his pure white eyes and what was presumably his face. But even that was shrouded in mystery. He was also incapable of speech. He could make a few noises, understand what was being said, and even sing wordless songs, but he never spoke. "What do you think we should do, Ed?" Anne asked. "I'm not quite sure. Seems harmless enough." Sora stepped in. "Okay, you're free to go." He told the Traveler. "Look Cap'n! A Dragon!" Edward turned to the pirate that said that. "Really?". "No Cap'n! He's not fooling around!" Edward sighed and looked up. A purple dragon. "What the-" Edward was cut off as the dragon landed in front of him. "Excuse me, are you the captain here?" Edward reached for his sword. "As a matter of fact, I am".

"Good, I'm just wondering if you can tell me where I am. My name's Spyro by the way." Edward narrowed his eyes, believing that they must've been playing tricks on him. "We're...in China, I think?" Ed turned to Anne, who nodded. "Yes, that's right. But if you're looking for help then you've come to the wrong place. We've had a brush in with the law, and we need to get going." Edward pointed to the ship a short swim away from shore. Spyro smiled. "I wouldn't go that way if I were you." Edward turned his attention back to the purple Dragon. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Those soldier dudes have somehow set up a massive blockade a short way out. If you attempt to get close, then they'll tear you to pieces." Edward narrowed his gaze once more. "Why should I trust you?" Edward demanded. "Because I'm not lying!" Spyro protested. "I agree with it" Anne stepped in. "Anne?" "Why take a risk? If we go out there and he's lying, we needn't come back. But if he's telling the truth, then we're not coming back or going anywhere else for that matter." The pirates conferred amongst themselves before agreeing. "She's got a fair argument, sir" One of them stated. The rest agreed.

"Very well then, where do we go instead?" Edward asked. "Maybe try to find out if there's anyone who can help us, for all it's worth." Edward shrugged. "Okay, so where to?" Anne pointed. "Our closest city, Hefei. Just 4 hours north of here. Also the biggest city in China in every aspect." Spyro got ready to fly. "Alright then, next stop, Hefei!" Sora considered his options. "Mind if I tag along?" He asked. "I fail to see any reason why not" Edward answered. The Traveler made an upbeat noise, to indicate he was on the bandwagon too.

* * *

Lara came face to face with a red-haired woman. She had brutally slain some guards, with Lara lending a hand. "Thank you" Lara panted, out of breath. "You're welcome." The woman walked over to shake Lara's hand. "Nariko." "Lara." Lara was about to walk away when she noticed the sword. Why hadn't she made the comparison before?! "Wait!" Lara called out. "The Heavenly sword!" Nario was taken aback by Lara's knowledge. "How did you know about it?" Nariko demanded. "Bohan sent you, didn't he?!" Lara raised her hands. "I don't mean harm! I've just seen it, at an exhibition. I touched it and it started talking to me and I placed a rock in the ground and I ended up here!" Lara explained. Nariko lowered the sword. "What did it say to you?" "It told me that you demanded that I be sent here."

Nariko didn't believe her for one second, until the sword stepped in. "Yes, I did." Nariko sighed. The sword communicated telepathically with it's wielder. You could of course ignore the sword, a profession Nariko had adapted to, but times like these called for the sword to be taken seriously. "Did you?" Nariko asked, through her mind. "Yes. I care about you, so I sent help. No thanks required." Nariko didn't respond. She didn't need help with taking care of Bohan, but at least she could confirm that Lara wasn't a villain. "Alright, I believe you." Nariko walked past Lara. "Thank you. Could you please tell me when I am?" Nariko turned around. "I beg your pardon?" She then stopped talking, as the sword explained a few more things. "Well, you're in 1538, near the grand palace of the tyrannical King Bohan, just outside Hefei, China." Lara stood there. "You heard correctly." Nariko reassured. "I suggest you blend in, so Bohan's men don't get you".

A lone blade flew towards Nariko, who parried it with the Heavenly Sword. "You!" She yelled accusingly. "What are you doing here?!" She demanded. "I should ask you the same question. You're way out of your depth. Not even a worthy opponent to me, or need I humiliate you twice?" Kratos retracted his blade.

"That won't be necessary. "I'll repay the debt shortly. But I have more important things to take care of." Nariko walked past Kratos. "That's it! Keep walking like the coward you are! I'll be sure to put that blade of yours to good use!" Nariko turned. She took out a cannon and fired the blast at Kratos, enough to enrage him. "I dare you to repeat that sentence" Nariko taunted. "Fool! The Ghost of Sparta bends to no mortal!"

 _ **FIGHT!**_

Kratos lunged in with the blades of Athena, letting his rage consume him. Nariko parried with the Heavenly sword, and then landed a powerful blow to Kratos' chest. The God of War flew backwards and quickly picked himself up, fring Apollo's bow. Nariko fired her cannon, destroying the arrow. Nariko lunged in next, slamming the sword into the ground. Kratos was taken by surprise as four blades rose from underneath him and knocked him into the sky. Nariko followed up by grappling with the sword, and landing a few kicks to Kratos' face. But one kick was too far to the left. Kratos recognised his chance and grabbed Nariko's leg, throwing her into the ground, creating a small hole. Nariko felt that one. Kratos landed on his own two feet, but still a bit shook after the surprise attack. Who would'e thought a mortal girl could harm him with just her legs, let alone with the sword. Speaking of which, the sword launched from the hole, forcing Kratos to block with the blades of Athena. Then Nariko jumped. Over Kratos, using the jammed Heavenly Sword as leverage. Kratos struggled against the Sword, as it dragged him closer to Nariko.

He tried to outsmart her, by landing a kick to her left leg, but found it to be blocked and equaled. Nariko then broke out in a flurry of kicks to Kratos' back, not wasting a second of time while she was on top. Kratos tried against the Heavenly Sword one last time, and succeeded. Nariko stumbled backwards, with Kratos breaking into full assault. Nariko flung the Heavenly Sword at him, Kratos countered with a Spartan shield and Spear, charging into Nariko. He then used the barbarian hammer to stun Nariko. He followed up by using Icarus' wings to fly with Nariko and toss her higher into the air. He fired Apollo's bow at an upward angle, finding his mark. He then slashed and slashed with the blades of Athena, knocking Nariko back. Kratos looked on as she struggled to pick herself up, wincing as she removed the arrow from her gut. Still ready to fight. Kratos charged in, but was put off by the metal pellets that struck him. Lara fired her twin pistols at the brute who advanced towards her, unaffected by the bullets. POW! The Heavenly Sword struck Kratos in the back, knocking him down. Nariko pounced, returning the slashes which Kratos had left on her, leaving many large cuts. Nariko returned the favour, and then fired her cannon at Kratos' head.

Lara retreated, but still watched as Kratos and Nariko stood opposite each other. Out of breath, heavily cut, bleeding, but not finished. That was when they heard clapping. "Bravo!" The voice continued. Lara watched. Someone in a red and black wetsuit, armed to the teeth with grenades and guns galore, with other weapons as well. "That really was awesome, but I can't let you two just destroy each other! Otherwise this fanfic would be in a dead end in no time!" He continued. "Back off! This is between her and I!" Kratos yelled. "Yikes, I picked on the wrong guy today." He muttered. "Anyway, I'm here to stop you guys fighting." Kratos sneered. "What if I told you to go to Hades, and did this!" Kratos launched a blade of Athena through the man, cutting his arm off. "That was a mis-" His other arm came off. "I have no quarrel with you, stranger." Nariko explained. "But I'm not losing to this arrogant soul!" She spat as she turned to Kratos.

The man smiled. "Yeah, you guys all know that they'll pay for that!" Kratos and Nariko watched in amazement as the man managed to reattach his own arms, as if they never came off. "What kind of creature are you?" Kratos growled. "What kind of creature am I? A very rare breed, that's for sure!" The man lunged in with his katanas, equal to the blades of Athena, with agility to avoid every slash from every conceivable angle. He noticed that Nariko was readying her cannon, and knew exactly how to react. He jumped on Kratos' back. "Woo-Hoo! Piggyback!" He cheered, despite Kratos' attempts to shake him off. He was so busy, he didn't even feel it when the cannonball hit him in the head, knocking him out cold. "Nice shot!" He called out to Nariko. He picked up Kratos' bow and examined it. "Taste the fury of- Apollo?" The man scratched his head. "Did Apollo even use a bow? What movie was that in? Maybe, it was the fight behind closed do-" Nariko kicked him in the head. He smiled. Nariko was going to be so much easier. He grabbed her leg and managed to slam her into the ground in some weird form of piledriver-like move. "How dare you launch such a cheap shot at me!" He scolded. "Time to pay the price!" He launched a flurry of punches to her face, not stopping until she was out cold too.

Lara stared in shock. Bullets didn't even harm Kratos, and he had a hard time dealing with Nariko. Who was this guy who had come along and taken them both out in a matter of minutes. "What'd you think?" The man asked. Lara didn't have a response. Oh, okay. Don't worry, I get that a lot. Pretty amazing, huh?" The man continued of in a ramble about himself until Lara asked the question. "Who are you?" The man stopped. "You don't know me?" Lara shook her head. The man laughed. "Oh man, you're funny! Who doesn't know who Deadpool is?" Deadpool wiped imaginary tears from his eyes. "Now, just wait there." He took out a permanent marker and his phone. "I've got business do attend to" He explained, followed by a childish laugh.

* * *

Many of the villains could only stare in shock. "Damn"Bohan muttered. "How do we compete with that?" Izanagi asked. "By doing the same thing as before! We keep chippin' away at these guys, they'll fall, real easy." Sigma explained. "I agree" A voice from the shadows called out. "We need to get it into our heads that we're superior to them. Not because we need to for confidence, but because it's the truth. Look at that." All the villains turned to the screen, showing deadpool drawing on Kratos' face, laughing to himself. "They can't work together, something we're capable of." All the villains agreed. "Very well then! Here's to our victory!" Bohan yelled. Followed by a resounding cheer. The voice in the shadows remained silent.

* * *

Calypso knocked on the door. "Who is it?" Dr. Neo Cortex asked. "Just me, Doctor." Calypso answered. "I've dropped by to see how your experiment is coming along." Calypso looked around. Cortex's lab was huge. There were also sorts of genetically mutated creatures bouncing around in other rooms, with failed machines littering the hallways. Calypso walked inside and looked at the experiment on the table. A teenager's body was on the operating table, separated from Calypso and Cortex by bullet-proof glass. "No signs of life." Cortex explained. "But I feel we are close." Calypso smiled. "That is good news. How close would you say?" Cortex thought. "Oh, I'd say about, 4 months." Cortex returned to his readings. Calypso looked around at all the desks, littered with recordings, sketches, and other things, stacked sky high. But it was all in relation to just that one boy. That one body that had been found. "Are you sure this will work?" Calypso asked. "Of course! 100%!" Cortex gleefully reassured. "And once he is complete, no one will be able to stop him."

 _ **Author's Note**_

So, between science experiments, wars in the east and many other things, I hope to revisit this chapter soon, and tie up a few loose ends and get to the really good bits. Why have I been away this time? A multitude of reasons.


	16. Invasion Intrigue Pt3

Cloud and Dart looked around. Even though Sephiroth was gone, enough damage had been done. The citizens of Vekta gathered around their new found heroes. Shortly, however, the Helghast arrived and were negotiating with the VSA. Even the commanding general of the Helghast had shown up. The Helghast and Vektans alike bowed to him. He wore a red cloak surrounding the lightweight armour he wore. He had a pacemaker, evident from his heavy breathing, on top of the traditional Helghast mask. The mask, unlike most others though, was pure white and clung to his face. Anyone on either side of the wall knew who he was. The son of Vyktor Kratek, Akro.

The VSA leader had prominent eyes, and short, tightly shaven hair. By the way he dressed though, he could have easily been mistaken for a junkie or something. Baggy light grey tracksuit pants and a black hoodie, with the VSA emblem on it. "Thank you for your assistance, Akro." He shook Kratek's hand. "It was no trouble. But we should organise a meeting, this will not be the last time something like this should happen, Dmitri." Dmitri Barrens nodded and saluted. Kratek saluted back. "Okay people! Go home! Safety warning will be issued on a regular basis from now on!" The crowds slowly began to disperse, still shaken from the events not five minutes earlier. "I thought things would be more peaceful!" A man grumbled.

Cloud, Dart, Kain, Angelo and Hale got on the plane with Echo and Kratek. "Your mother wishes to speak with you, Echo. But just wait a moment, I have important matters to discuss"Understood." Echo nodded. "Well, I must commend you all for your tremendous work. You've helped us fend off a grave threat to our existence. Of course, we will have questions in relation to the enemies you fought. But that's not important right now. Take a rest, you've earned it." Kratek went into the cockpit. "Where is Maya?!" Hera Visari demanded. "Autarch, I think it would be best-" "Don't tell me what you think is best! I demand to speak with my daughter!" "Autarch! Calm down! You aren't thinking, what about anything else?! The Vektans, The threat we face, or even the people who have saved us!" Everyone went silent. It was considered the height of rudeness to talk back to the Autarch, but the fact that such a high ranking, well respected soldier such as Akro Kratek was the one responsible for doing it made it shocking. "But we helped the incompetent Vektans! There should be no cause for a meeting!" Hera argued. _"You_ signed the treaty that suggested we should do exactly that." Kratek countered. "But that isn't what we worked towards! Not what your father died for!"

"MY FATHER WAS CORRUPT!" Kratek yelled. "He tried to overthrow yours! He would have held us all ransom for that bioweapon! He didn't die a hero, he died when his own corruption caught up with him!". Hera ordered the guards to take Kratek away. "You'll do nothing of the sort!" Kratek glared at the guards. "I know you are concerned for your daughter. Just like any good parent should. But you were aware of the risks she was facing. I don't like having to do this to you, but that doesn't mean that I won't do it." Hera stood there in shock as Kratek took a seat.

Echo sighed as the shouting finally ceased in the cockpit. This was her fault and she knew it. No one said anything, but looks said a lot. Dart and Cloud just didn't want t break the silence, Hale looked up, glazed eyes, mouth forming words that weren't being produced. Angelo and Kain eyed each other meaningfully, and that left Echo alone with her thoughts. Fortunately, the flight back was little over quarter of an hour long, and they were back in New Helghan before they knew it. Hera left without saying another word to Akro Kratek, just leaving him there. Hale was immediately rushed off to a hospital, while Kain and Angelo walked off together. Cloud, Dart and Echo watched Kratek, expecting him to say something. Cloud's mind immediately went to his surroundings. There were slums everywhere, hidden beneath a dense jungle of clothes lines and smog. They had landed on a helipad, and were being protected by security.

"I suppose not everything went well with mother?" Echo asked. "No, I'm afraid not" Kratek answered. "She still has it in her head that we are superior to the Vektans." Echo looked puzzled. Not that she didn't support equality, but this was the son of one of the Helghan greats, up there with the likes of Tendon Cobar, Armin Metrac, and Mael Radec. Akro Kratek was the son of Vyktor, who was responsible for the destruction of a bioweapon that could have wiped out the species existence. He managed to pry it from the hands of a corrupt VSA commander Alex Grey and a Corrupt PMC leader Anders Benoit who was going to put it on the black market. "I'm impressed. I thought you hated Vektans." Echo remarked. "What made you think that?" Kratek asked. "Well, I assumed, since your Vyktor Kratek's son-" "So you didn't think, you assumed." Kratek reprimanded. "Okay, but tell me at least what made you have a change of heart?".

Kratek sighed. "Well, just a few years ago, I was in college, researching to be a history teacher. It was at this time I decided to find out about my father, Vyktor. I never saw much of him, as he was usually out fighting the VSA. When Helghan was destroyed, so was its history. Artifacts, journals, everything gone. No one really cared though, we were much too preoccupied with settling in. So I was looking through my father's many works, until I came across the part where he killed the tyrannical VSA commander Alex Grey. The articles were left mostly unfinished, and it was getting late, so I moved on. The next day though, I went back to the article. It was complete. Someone had supplied the information. Alex Grey had hired mercenaries to do her dirty work, most notably, a fugitive, who's name was not mentioned. This person was a hero. That was the part I was never told. It was he who had killed Grey, the mercenary leader, who killed my father, and the merc who killed his boss. He then destroyed the bioweapon and went into hiding. But the parts that really stuck out were the ones about Vyktor's activities. He too enlisted this mercenary to fight for him, with intentions to betray him and take the weapon for himself. I laughed at that a little. We claimed to be so much more honourable, and yet, we were really no better."

Cloud and Dart took this in as well. "How do you know it's not a rumour or something?" Dart asked. "Audio and video files. From the point of view of the merc, but edited in a way which protected his identity.". "Well then, how come others don't believe you?" Cloud asked. "The page was taken down." Akro answered. "I'm not sure why, but it was definitely for no good reason. I've tried asking around, but everyone just blanks me like I've got three heads." Akro explained. "But maybe that merc is still out there, and he can testify. I hope."

* * *

Arran Danner hated spiders. Which was why he didn't like the Amazon rainforest, because he had run ins with a few the size of his feet. He shot them. Maybe a bit excessive, but he deemed it necessary and that was all that mattered. He was heading in the direction of the smoke cloud, visible even through the treetops. There was screaming, gunshots, and everything else, none of it good. He was running towards the conflict when he bumped into a young soldier. "What's going on?" Danner demanded. "It's crazy shit! Aliens and monsters and-" The soldier passed out. Danner left him there and moved on. That soldier spoke english, with an American accent, when though he was in Brazil, and he doubted that to be a mere coincidence, more like a world threatening situation.

The chaos became closer, although Danner couldn't see what was attacking. "BlackJack, what's going on?" Danner asked. "I do not know. It is not good though. You should check it out and find out who you are up against." Danner nodded to no one. "Okay. I'll see."

Danner ran off, not a moment to lose, when he tripped over a log. "Nothing broken" Danner muttered. That was when he heard chewing. "Blanka! Now isn't the time!" A young girl yelled. Danner looked over at Blanka. He was a freak show. His hair was orange and spiked like a hedgehog. He wore light brown shorts and was casually eating an electric eel. His skin was the strangest feature of all. It was green. "We can't go back. Too dangerous to do that." Blanka responded. The girl calling his name looked very out of place. She had short brown hair and looked like she was a fan of anime or something. There was another older woman there too. She dressed casually. A long blue skirt and light pink blouse. She had long hair, curly and thick, with slight wrinkles in her skin. She too looked out of place. Blanka continued. "I barely got Mom out. I don't like our chances, Sakura." The girl called Sakura folded her arms and began to run off. "Wait! Where are you going?" Blanka asked. "I'm going back to help those people, just like Sensei would!" Blanka scratched his head. He doubted that "Sensei" had it in him to risk his life like that.

Danner decided to intervene. "Wait!" He shouted after Sakura, who stopped in her tracks. "Who are you?" She asked. "Uhh...Joe, Joe Smith." Danner lied. "Can I ask what's going on over there?" He asked, the smell of burning beginning to enter his nostrils. "It's some guy called Black Doom. His Aliens are searching for some people, and they won't stop until they're found.". Danner took the information in. "Who are they looking for?" Blanka cut in. "Never asked. The guy just said "Find them!" and nothing else.".

"Okay, thanks." Danner took off. "Hey, wait!" Sakura ran off after him. Blanka returned to fishing for eels. "Aren't you going to help them?" The woman asked. "No, Mom. I can't". His mother smiled. "I think you can do a little better than that, don't you?". Blanka stared into her face. Curse it. "But what about you?" Blanka asked. "I won't leave you here." His mother's expression never changed. "I'll go with you." Blanka went bugged eyed. "No Way!" He yelled. "We'll find a military escort." Danner assured him. Blanka felt awkward after that. He wouldn't have had that conversation if he had known that the other two were still there. "I thought you left." Blanka grumbled. "We wouldn't leave without you" Sakura smiled.

* * *

"I still can't believe you would do such a thing!" Kain hissed at Angelo. They were walking through an empty street, surrounded by neon signs and piles or rubbish. "Turning on your own like that!" "I did what I had to!" Angelo countered. "If you would take your fucking head out of the clouds, you'd realise that!". Angelo punched Kain. Kain hit back. "Come on, tough guy!" Kain jeered, putting up his fists. Angelo punched him in the gut several times over, before kicking him away into a wall. Kain coughed up some blood and kneeled. That was a mistake. Angelo kicked him in the chin, dislocating his jaw, forcing out a pained roar. Kain lay down, defeated.

"I thought we were best friends!" Angelo yelled. He walked off. Leaving Kain to his thoughts.

Until he felt something pick him up and throw him into a more crowded street. There was another snap as Kain fixed his jaw. "Ready for round 2?" He asked, before punching Angelo several times in the head, creating a bruise. Angelo rolled out of the way, as Kain slammed his fist into the ground. The fight started to gather attention as people crowded around to see the two Chimera slug it out. Angelo returned with another punch to the head, which was avoided by Kain. Kain retaliated with an uppercut, knocking him back. Shortly afterwards, Angelo was on the receiving end of a winding kick, knocking him into the crowd, who helped him back on his feet. They launched him back into the fight, giving him enough momentum to tackle Kain to the ground. Pinned to the ground, Kain blocked as many punches as he could, but still found himself bleeding. He kept blocking, waiting for the moment. The time between Angelo's punches became more and more, until Kain launched a headbutt. Angelo was taken completely by surprise and fell backwards. Kain launched a kick to Angelo's head, causing him to curl up and start groaning. There were gasps followed by whispers from the crowd. Kain looked around in disgust at the vile creatures. He let out a Chimera-like screech and silenced the crowds. He walked towards them, and without being asked, the crowds parted, being met by Kain's hateful stares.

Angelo slowly picked himself up. "You're finished already?" He yelled. "Fight me!". Angelo launched an uppercut, startling Kain, then winding him with a punch to the gut. Kain stumbled backwards over Angelo's outstretched foot. Several punches to the gut resulted in some a broken ribcage for Kain. Despite this, he ploughed on. He launched in with pure anger, punches, kicks, claws out and everything. That left a mark. Angelo took a look at himself. Scratch marks all over, decorating bruises, all of which were coated in blood. He fainted.

Kain was no pretty boy either, but he was still standing. "Serves you right." Kain spat. Angelo didn't respond. He lay there, motionless. "Come on, truce." Kain extended his hand. No response. "Hey come on, wake up." Kain shook Angelo. His eyes were closed. He checked for a pulse. There was barely any. "Shit!" Kain called out in English, to get the Helghans' attention. "Someone get a doctor!" He demanded. A man stepped forward. "I am a doctor." He said. "Can you help my friend?" The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "Maybe, but I'll need your help.". Kain didn't wait to be asked twice.

* * *

"I never want to hear of you doing things like that ever again! Understood, Maya?" Hera Visari scolded her daughter in her meeting room overlooking New Helghan. "Yes Mot-Autarch Visari." Echo saluted. "You are dismissed." Hera told her. After the room was empty, save for a few guards and Akro Kratek. Talking began.

"I'm not quite sure what I should do to you." Hera taunted Kratek. "General, I don't like being talked to that way. And I'm going to make sure you don't forget it." Kratek remained calm. "Oh really. What will you do once I'm gone?" he asked. "I'm going to keep that wall for a start. I don't want my people mixing with the likes of those Vektans.". Kratek rolled his eyes. "Then why did you sign the treaty?". "I-er-well, I-um" The real reason being that Echo persuaded her. But she wouldn't admit it. She had disowned her daughter and as such, didn't refer to her as her child in public, even though everyone knew. But she always had a soft spot, like any caring parent would. But she would never admit that to her soldiers. "I did it for the people." She lied. "The people?" Kratek raised an eyebrow. "Yes. I didn't want anymore deaths of innocent Helghast."

"There are innocent Vektans on the other side." Kratek countered. "Killed by our soldiers." "They discriminate us. They destroyed our planet." Hera argued. "Staahl destroyed our planet. No one else did anything. But you continued to trust him. I would have left him on Helghan to rot." Kratek corrected her. "What about those Vektans who you saved? What are you going to tell them?" Kratek asked. "I'll take their weapons. If I get their top minds and weapons, I'll be able to restore Helghan on the Vektans' home turf." Kratek felt a smile form on his lips. "What will they make of you waltzing over and taking everything they own?". Hera smiled back. "I have two petrusite missiles waiting to be let off. They'll render New Vekta uninhabitable, unless Mr. Barrens cares for his people." Hera wasn't expecting an answer. But she got one. "One. You have one Petrusite missile.". "I have two." Hera corrected him. "I can assure you, you only have one.". "That's impossible..." Hera's face slowly turned angry at Kratek, who had a wide smile on his face, even though it couldn't be seen. "You didn't!" Hera was fuming. "It was the only way to protect them." Kratek responded. "FROM WHAT?!" She screamed. "You." Kratek answered, cool as ice. "But...why?" Hera asked, holding back her rage.

"It was ever since the assassination of Thomas Sinclair." Kratek explained. "That should have been a great time for everyone. But it made you even more sour towards the Vektans. You would openly discuss your hatred for them, always had to cancel talks with them, and more. And if I was to say what caused these changes, I'd say it was your daughter.". "Poppycock!" Hera scoffed. "Don't lie to me, Autarch. You're a parent. I can't relate, but I know that you care. Your daughter has been behaving strangely ever since the assassination too. She became extremely introverted, retired from military service and rarely spoke to anyone, all of which I'm sure you've noticed. The only time I've saw her return to her usual self was yesterday, when those unknowns showed up and went to Vekta."

Hera didn't have an answer. "Well, I think that's enough chit chat. Oh, and Dmitri is coming to discuss issues relating to those invaders in an hour's time, just as a heads up. Hera considered getting her guards to bring Kratek back, but there was no way he would come back.

* * *

"I can't believe people are allowed to live like this" Dart muttered as he walked through the streets of New Helghan, earning a few glances here and there. "I've seen worse" Cloud commented. "So, what do you do for a living?" He asked, changing the subject completely. "Well, I suppose you could say I'm unemployed at the moment. I used to slay dragons, but then I slayed them all. What about you?". Cloud chuckled a little. "Well, that's a long and complex story, but long story short, I'm a mercenary."

"I don't suppose you fight other humans?" Dart asked, noting the Buster Sword. "Not really no..." He became distant, remembering Sephiroth "Actually, I'd rather not talk about it." Dart looked at Cloud's saddened expression and said nothing.

They walked for a bit, Dart trying out some local cuisine, not much different to what he ate. But Cloud didn't eat. "Are you okay?" Dart asked. "Did I upset you?". Cloud looked at Dart. "Nah, I'm fine." His expression perked up a bit, although it was very forced. "Just, it's a tough job." Dart took the hint.

"What's going on over there?" Dart snapped out of his daydream to spot the one of the Chimera carrying a stretcher with his other on it. Dart and Cloud decided to follow, along with a large crowd of people. They eventually arrived at the hospital, where he was rushed to A&E. Cloud and Dart were stopped by a doctor. "I can't allow you any further." He said. Until the Chimera dropped back. "No, I need them" He lied. Cloud and Dart were puzzled, not least by the Chimera speaking English.

When they arrived, the Chimera used the same excuse and so Cloud and Dart were able to watch, not that they wanted to. They were hoping to get some answers to some questions, but now they would have to wait.

"His anatomy is almost a replica of your own. I know he has broken bones and is severely injured, but I fear that his vital organs are damaged.". The doctor ordered for his tools to be brought in, but still asked, "How can you tell?". "Our bodies turn black in the areas where there is a severed organ, or anything else that may threaten life." The doctor mused. "Interesting." He got his tools as he and another doctor set to work. "Can I ask a few questions?" The other doctor asked. Kain would rather have told her to piss off, but he needed the doctors, and so kept them occupied. "Sure" He answered. "Go ahead.". "Where do you come from?" She asked. "No idea." He responded, quick and simple. "What do you mean, you don't know?" She asked. "That's a long story." Kain responded. "I'm all ears." The Doctor replied. "Shouldn't you be keeping him from dying?" Kain asked, gesturing to Angelo. "Your friend is quite lucky. He'll be fine in just under two days. Plenty of rest is what he needs." The doctor injected some anesthesia into Angelo. "What about you though, you look very beat up." Kain took a moment to look at himself and realise she was right. "I'll just head home and rest too. Don't worry about me." The doctor didn't even ask where "home" was.

"You seem awfully casual, talking to me, and operating on another of us." Kain remarked as the two stood by him at Angelo's bed. "Well, we're not. We're pretty excited in all honesty. But just finish up soon, okay?" They left. The Autarch had heard about what happened and sent money for Angelo to stay the two nights. He was asleep, hooked up to all sorts of machines. Cloud and Dart were there with him, sitting down. "Why did you let us past that doctor?" Cloud asked. "I...want to learn." Kain answered solemnly. "About what?" Cloud asked. "That's the thing. I don't know what there is to learn about.". "Well, we'll have plenty of time to figure it out. Come on, visiting hours are almost up." Cloud patted him on the back. Kain sighed and left Angelo asleep.

* * *

"Don't worry, we'll make sure she's safe" The two soldiers assured the three. "Thank the lord we managed to save at least one." They muttered. Danner paused and looked at Sakura. He had guns and tech, Blanka was kinda like the hulk, and Sakura...well nothing, it seemed. "Aren't you a bit, ill equipped to go out fighting?" He asked. "Don't worry, as long as we don't try to take too many at a time, we should be fine." She reassured. "I'll supply you with weapons my friend, on house, just for you!" BlackJack offered. "Thanks man." Danner whispered before the three ran into the city. All hell was breaking loose. There was gunfire and explosions everywhere. Soldiers took out flying aliens while some controlled mechs to battle the bigger ones, which yielded mixed results. There was one chameleonic creature that seemed hell bent on mindless destruction, using every part of its body to knock buildings down to the ground, explode cars, and make soldiers lives a midnight snack.

"Get in here!" A voice yelled, from a tank. Without thinking, the three got in. The man wore a very dull black and grey combat suit, complete with a bandana and probably packing much more. He currently had a sawn off shotgun in his right hand, his left hand free. "What are you doing here?" He demanded. "Community Service." Danner answered. The man gave him a dirty look. "Look, we want to keep you away from this shit, not get you involved! Just run through the forest to west, there's a safe house not far away, you can stay there.". "Seriously, you need help and we're supplying it." Danner argued. "We have enough help as it is." He answered. "That pet alien out there disagrees." Danner reminded him. It took a moment for the man to recognise the creature he was talking about. "Oh, that. We're going to clear the area, then drop an atom bomb on it." Danner laughed. "I hope you're able to pay for it!" The man was not blunt. "You got any better ideas, punk?" Danner put up his hands. "Hey, I'm 26 years old, and yes I do." The man smirked. "Tell me about them."

"Step outside then." Danner ordered. "Wait!" Sakura objected. "Shouldn't we just focus on getting rid of the smaller ones first or something? You may be in over your head here." Danner didn't even stop to think about it. "He's crazy, but I won't count him out just yet." Blanka said as he and Sakura went outside the tank.

Danner produced a sniper rifle kind of gun with green bar on either side. "Can I ask you favour?" Danner asked the man. "Shoot." The man said, lighting a cigarette. "Get him to open his mouth." The man took out a pistol and fired at the alien chameleon. It turned to the man and roared at him. Danner fired. The creature swallowed the bullets and charged forwards. "Now what?" The man grumbled. "He will get severe case of heartburn." Blackjack butted in. That was when the creature exploded. Oh boy, it was not a pretty sight. There was bits of alien at Danner's feet. If he shot the creature a second later, he would have needed a nice long shower.

But the once hostile man was impressed as they all got back in the tank. "What kind of weapon is this?" The man asked, gesturing to the gun Danner held in his arms. "Do you trust me now?" Danner asked. Reluctantly, he shook hands with Danner.

"Arran Danner; Call me Danner"

"Solid Snake; Call me Snake"

 _ **Author's Note**_

I'm back after nearly a month of being absent. I was bogged down with a lot of crap, like school and sports, but I'm back! I did play a lot of games though, I won't lie. But how does Kain feel after nearly killing his best friend? Why did they fight? Partially because I saw Rocky V, but not entirely. So Blanka and Sakura are here too, mostly because even Dan would need some buddies to have on the all stars squad. Solid Snake, yeah, he's here. I know he doesn't specialize in up front, all out direct assault, but I suppose it's hard to sneak past aliens, and I suppose he could always bust out a Metal Gear himself if he wanted. I did introduce a lot of characters, particularly between the Helghast and Vektans. I wouldn't want to spoil anything and would prefer to talk about this in retrospective, so I'm going to say nothing for now. Until next Time!


	17. Environmentally Unfriendly

A plane had arrived along with CTos to begin rebuilding Seattle. The plane was intended to carry the now large group to Brazil, where the distress signal was coming from. "Damn, these CTobots sure are great" T-Bone muttered. "Yep, they sure are" Damien agreed.

There was an awkward silence on the way there. No one seemed willing to break it. Why were they even going to Brazil? That was the question Eggman asked before he decided to leave for another location, taking the egg fleet with him. There were more than a few on board who would rather be elsewhere, or skin everyone else alive. But here they all were, sitting around like they were waiting for someone to own up to breaking old Ms. Hendrick's window. They all eventually went to sleep, those who couldn't, lay in silence.

Omega occupied himself by watching some cat videos Eggman had stored in his database. Pyramid Head seemed to be in a catatonic state, while Nightmare muttered to himself about world domination, or something like that. They were on a 19 hour flight, and who knew when the plane would come down?. Cole was one person very preoccupied. _"You're weak! That's why I'm here!"_ Cole didn't like to admit it, but that was the truth. He let his evil side out, and it wasn't going back in. His thoughts were interrupted by the torturous sound of something tearing through steel. "What the fuck?!" Cole demanded as Nightmare cut down the door slowly. "We've been going in circles for the past hour! I've had enough, I really need to show these imposters who I am!" He answered, jumping out, without a parachute. Cole felt himself being sucked out by the vacuum. "What has he done?!" Dan wailed, gripping to whatever he could find. Sir Daniel was powerless as his limbs left him behind, one by one, making Dan Hibiki yelp. "Here!" Taterazay yelled, throwing Dan a parachute. "Use this!". Dan hurriedly put on the parachute. "What if it doesn't open?" Dan asked nervously. "You can take it back for a refund." Delsin answered, as he, Fetch and Kat let themselves fall. Cole was next, once again not requiring a parachute.

Cole used his electricity powers just before he hit the ground to soften the fall. It worked as he shortly regrouped with everyone else. "So, we just take the city by storm and get rid of the aliens?" He suggested. He put his plan into action before even getting one person's approval. The soldiers here were doing a much better job at fighting, and it appeared they were much better equipped to deal with the threat. There were giant mechs which were so good at their job one could have assumed they were built to fight aliens. Aiden fired at a few of the aliens, earning attention from the soldiers. "Who are those guys?" One asked. "Don't know. But I'm not complaining.". "Cover me!" Damien yelled to T-Bone. "Wait, why?!" T-Bone asked, still firing at the Aliens. "Just, trust me!" Damien answered, fiddling with his phone. "Come on, Damien!" T-Bone muttered, running out of time before he had to reload. "Done!" Damien yelled. But it was one second too late. One of the aliens latched itself onto T-Bone, piercing him. He screamed. Damien took out a revolver and fired at the creature, causing it to fly away. "You okay, T-Bone?!" Damien asked, rushing to his side. T-Bone didn't answer. He was shaking, so still alive. "Help!" Damien yelled. "Anyone?!". He was startled when the Jolly Green Giant answered his calls. "He's hurt." The creature answered, picking up T-Bone and running off with him.

"Hey! Wait!" Damien ran off after the creature.

* * *

"The specimen is ready?". Calypso asked. "Not quite. He still needs a bit more time before his regenerative abilities kick in. Calypso shook his head and frowned, sending chills down Cortex's spine. "You do disappoint me, doctor.". Dr. Cortex was afraid of his life. "Oh, he's just ready now!" Cortex lied. "Very good." Calypso commented as the young man strapped to the table opened his eyes for the first time. The restraints, syringes and other things retracted as he was allowed to stand up. He walked steadily, before deciding he got the hang of it. He was dressed in a simple white t-shirt and black pants. He was presented with two battle axes, and two magnets with buttons. He put the magnets on his hands and carried the two battle axes into a plain grey room, much bigger than his experiment room. "Well, can he do everything you said?" Calypso asked. "Well, this is the first time I've tested." Cortex explained. He jumped after the battle axe rebounded off the window, and he was met with an intense stare of hatred. There were thoughts plaguing his mind. None of them his, none of them positive. But Calypso was able to block them before they started to influence Cortex. "Well, he's good to go, except for one thing. He doesn't seem to like us very much.". Calypso chuckled. "I'll just have to beat some sense into him." He teleported into the room with the unnamed test subject. "Hello" Calypso smiled. The subject turned to face Calypso. "You're working with him?" The subject spoke. He spoke with a voice like he smoked 300 cigarettes a day. It was almost impossible to understand him. "Yes." Calypso answered. "You could say that."

"Then piss off back to him." He grumbled. "Or I'll have to kick your ass too.". Calypso smiled. "Are you deaf?" The subject asked. Calypso didn't respond. He went to teleport away, until he found himself embedded in the nearest wall. Cortex wasn't kidding. This guy had lightning quick reflexes. "Leave me alone!" He grumbled. Calypso's grin never faded. A black haze appeared in the room with the two. Two red eyes poked out. "Yes master?" The voice asked. "Take care of this unruly subject." Calypso ordered. Time slowed down a million times over as the subject felt himself being thrown around the room by an unseen force. Time resumed as normal, leaving the subject very broken. "Thank you, Black." Calypso dusted himself off. "The pleasure is all mine, master." Black bowed. Cortex rushed into the room and put the subject back on the testing table, fully restrained.

"You are very lucky that he hadn't reached full potential, otherwise slowing down time would have been useless." Cortex explained. Calypso laughed. "I should think not. But I stand by your decision to keep him here for a short while longer. But why didn't you let him reach full potential?" He asked. "What just happened was the first reason, and the second, some fellow came in and walked right out with the emerald. I think he's in Brazil right now." Cortex explained. Calypso and Cortex left the lab in control of Jorhan Stahl's men. "Jorhan Stahl? I thought he was dead?" Cortex muttered. "Yes,yes." Calypso explained. "But he got better."

* * *

Zero and Omega had traveled all the way to the far side of the city, a more commercial place. Which probably explained why it suffered the most damage. Nightmare had already arrived here, and was admiring his work. "What are you doing?" X demanded. "I'm taking back this world." Nightmare answered. "What do you mean?" Zero asked. "I mean that- hold on." Nightmare shoved Zero aside. There was a chrome humanoid thing standing there, wearing nothing but a coat and a mask, although he also had a sword. "Hey, buddy. You okay?" Nightmare walked right up to the thing. "You're pretty good with that sword." It commented. "Listen here." Nightmare hissed. "I see what you're doing, and I don't like it. So I'll give you no more than five seconds to get the hell out of here while you still can." The thing laughed at the harsh words. "You're just as Jin described!" He laughed. "Wait, who?" Zero asked as Nightmare bowled him over and lunged at Izanagi.

Izanagi held him off, but he certainly wasn't expecting a force like that. Nightmare eventually forced him back. He then performed a grim stride, knocking Izanagi into the air. Izanagi immediately dusted himself off and and let out a ghastly wail. Many aliens fell out of the sky, killed by the wail. Nightmare jammed the Soul Edge into the ground, causing magma to erupt beneath Izanagi. "That should teach you." Nightmare grinned. Izanagi appeared fine, not a scratch on him. "You will know better than to do that to Magatsu Izanagi!" Izanagi yelled lunging in and almost turning Nightmare into minced meat.

Nightmare was hurt. Izanagi backed up and prepared for his next attack. There was nothing Nightmare could do. He was hit by an incredible force, drawing something he'd never thought he'd draw. Blood.

Then came another wail. It killed aliens, but it also took Nightmare with it. Izanagi smiled and walked off. Back to the Polygon Man for a rest before heading off again.

A soft rumble. Izanagi kept walking. The rumble was continuous, but not irritating. That soon changed. But it was probably another eruption due to that buffoon's work. He turned around, and that was when he saw the sword. "Well, I can't say I wasn't expecting him to come back." Izanagi twirled his sword. The sword was shaking violently and the eye on it was looking around frantically until it locked its focus on Izanagi. Nightmare was up in an instant. He looked like a beast. Anything vaguely resembling a human was long gone, instead there was a beast composed of flesh and bones, with flaming wings. It stood there, focused on Izanagi.

Izanagi charged. He was batted away instantly, only recovering in time to see Nightmare holding up his sword, allowing it to be struck by light didn't wait to respond. "Compliance from the humans." He replied. "Anyone with half a brain cell knows that this is not how you go about it!" Nightmare argued. "Maybe, but I'd like to see you do better." Izanagi countered. "Just you wait. I'll show you a thing or two about how to conquer" Nightmare growled. Izanagi nodded. Izanagi launched forwards with a quick flurry of slices, managing to cut Nightmare. He slammed his sword into Nightmare with a vorpal blade attack. Nightmare stood there. He had the sword in his hands, away from Izanagi's.

The gargantuan beast took the sword and broke it over his knee. Izanagi stood there. Nightmare laughed a bit, throwing the two halves back to their owner. Izanagi picked them up and looked at them as they turned purple and fell to pieces. "Not so tough now, are you?" Nightmare asked, picking up Izanagi by the neck. Izanagi felt Nightmare's grip tighten on his neck, not that it would do him any harm. Nightmare must have realised this too, as Izanagi was thrust into the ground. Leaving Izanagi guessing what was going to happen next.

He was pierced immediately by the massive blade. Nightmare pulled up. Izanagi screamed. He was violently split in two, but still he wasn't dead, however much he wished he was. Nightmare slammed Soul Edge into the ground, unleashing a violent blast of fire, Exactly what he needed. He managed to prepare himself to absorb fire. The fire healed him, making him one again.

"Well, you've made a worthy adversary, but I have to go. I hope to meet you again." Izanagi smiled. He whistled and an alien swooped in and lifted him back through the portal from where he came.

Nightmare flew off. "I'm going to need to prepare for that guy." He muttered. Although he smiled a bit at the fact that he managed to find someone who was afraid of him.

* * *

"He's gone." Zero pointed to the flying beast. Omega nodded. "He won't be back. We'll find the others and find a way to shut off that portal." Zero nodded. They walked towards the top of the hill where the others were. On the way, they passed Damien setting up Ctos and soldiers catering to the wounded. "I suspect everything went well?" Omega asked the soldiers. They didn't answer. "Very well."

The two continued to the top of the hill. "Look at that." Zero pointed to the starry night sky. "Kinda cool, don't ya think?" Omega looked up. "Affirmative." He kept walking. Zero smiled. "Don't you ever switch off?" He asked Omega. "Repeat." Omega scratched his head. "You never stop...being so serious." Zero rephrased. "I don't believe we are in that kind of position." Omega responded. "It also would be extremely unorthodox." Zero laughed at that last part. "Y'know what? Maybe you're right. Maybe you're better this way. 'Unorthodox'!" He laughed.

"He'll live." Snake had finished bandaging the wound. "He should avoid any strenuous work for a couple of days, he's pretty lucky to not have any life threatening injuries." He commented. "Okay. We'll help fight those aliens." Blanka and Sakura left the tank. "I wish they weren't so reckless." Snake sighed. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it." Damien left the tank. "Hey, wait up!" Snake ran out after Damien. Damien was hunched over at a miraculously well preserved laptop next to a weird looking machine. It looked kinda like an upside down tripod, and it started to spin as Damien typed in some commands. "Now. It's gonna work." Damien smiled.

Danner rushed over to Snake. "Who the hell's this?" He asked, gesturing to Damien. "Damien Brenks." Damien extended his hand. "Arran Danner." Danner shook it. "So, what's all this?" Danner asked. "CTos security bot, it's a drone designed to take orders from it's master. I've programmed them to take care of the aliens." Damien explained. "I see." Danner nodded.

Delsin Fetch, Messi and Cole stopped attacking the aliens immediately after they saw the CTobots deployed. The sky returned to a starry night after the Aliens retreated. "Woo hoo!" Delsin yelled, throwing his fists into the air. "We're taking back the world, one step at a time!" Cole smiled at Delsin's optimism. "Hey Cole." Delsin snapped Cole out of his trance. "Can I ask you a question?". "No." Went his mind. But he said yes anyway.

"Who was that who nearly killed us in Seattle?" Cole froze. "I don't know." He lied. "Never seen him before." Delsin moaned. "Aw come on! You really think I'll believe that?" He laughed. "I'd rather not talk about it." Cole answered, truthfully. "Fair enough." Delsin shrugged. Cole walked off to be alone. "He's pretty antisocial." Delsin commented. "I don't know, D, maybe it's something we're better off not knowin'." Fetch replied. Messi stood there awkwardly. Delsin needed to charge his phone, and he didn't speak spanish very well.

Radec lay down on a stray mattress he found. He had cleaned his uniform a bit, which was still damp, but Radec never took off his uniform, and now was no exception. He didn't often get time to rest, with many nights in the Helghan army being sleepless ones. He was just about to doze off, when he heard metal rattling of bones. "What?" Radec demanded. Sir Daniel mumbled incoherently. Radec sighed and handed him a notepad. He got it back with a message reading:

Hello there! Just wanted to know if you have any suggestions as to how we should get out of here. I've asked around and no one seems to have a clue.

"Maybe you should think of a way, captain." Radec sneered, walking off. "Well, I never." Fortesque huffed.

"Hibiki-san!" Sakura called out. "Sakura? Jimmy?" Dan looked over at his two students. "Guys!" He ran over for a hug. "I'm so glad to see you guys again!" He proclaimed, squeezing the two tight. "Oof!" Blanka wheezed. Sakura immediately escaped Dan's vice like grip. "Hibiki-san! Be careful!" She warned. Dan wasn't listening, he was too busy squeezing the life force out of Blanka, who in response let out an electric discharge. "Well, good to see ya anyway." Dan lay facing up on the ground. "Anyway, where did you go, Hibiki-san?" Sakura asked. "One minute you were here with me, and the next, you were sucked up by a vortex or something. That was when those aliens came."

"Come to think of it, I do remember something like that." Dan muttered. "But what matters is that I'm here now!" He continued out loud. "No portal managed to hold me down. You guys shoulda seen me, I was letting those creeps feel the full force of the saikyo arts!" Dan struck a pose as he continued about his adventures.

Aiden and T-Bone joined Damien, Snake and Danner at the tripod thing. "No idea how it does that." Danner commented. "Nanobots." T-Bone answered. "Those lights on the sides of the bars are billions of nanobots, taking in air and rearranging it. This enables them to create the humanoid creatures we see them creating. "What's even in the air?" Danner asked. "You'd be surprised." T-bone answered. "Where do we go now?" Aiden asked. "Reckon we could stay here for a while, it seems safe." Danner answered. "What makes you think that?" Snake asked. "We've got soldiers, and the ctobots here. I reckon we could-" BANG!" Danner didn't get time to finish. "What-" BANG! Snake was next. "Get-" BANG! T-Bone was gone. Aiden and Damien ducked down.

"I think he's gone." Aiden whispered. But he was wrong. He heard a chuckle as a gun was placed against his neck. "I think not." Damien whispered back.

* * *

Taterazay looked off to the sounds of gunfire. "What do you think it was, boss?" Ton asked. "Probably just the last alien or something." Taterazay dismissed it. "I fear it was more than a measly 'alien'." Zeus went off to inspect the noise. "You aren't the least bit concerned?" Kat asked. "No. And stop doing that! It creeps me out." Kat returned to the ground. "Sorry."

"Really?" Dante laughed. "After all we've been through and that's what creeps you out?" Taterazay glared. "Piss off! I'm pretty sure you've pissed yourself at least once today!" Dante pretended to think. "Hold on a moment, let me think...nope. Not once. Although I never thought trigonometry could be so fucked up before!" He laughed. Pyramid Head grunted. "What about you guys?". No one answered. "What about you?" Dante asked Juan. Juan said nothing. "Okay...you?" Heihachi turned away. Dante flipped him off. "What do we do now?" Alucard asked. "I've been talking with the others, they're as clueless as we are." Geralt answered. "We could always stay here for a while." Sacrifice suggested. "It's safe, well guarded, and could become a potential base against this attack of aliens." Dante nodded. "Good idea. I like that." Shadow slapped him. "Hey! I was being serious!" Dante complained. "I know, but you need to change your attitude." Shadow told him. "He's right." Alucard agreed.

"Enemies sighted!"

The sound of CTobots pouring onto the hill got louder, until they were seen. Delsin moved forward first. "Cole, Fetch, Lionel, help-" BANG! The bullet pierced his skull. "Oh my God!" Fetch screamed. BANG! She joined him. BANG! BANG! Two more crumpled. "ANNIHILATE!" Omega yelled as the Omega guns whirred into life. A small grenade was tossed at him. "ERROR; CRITICAL ERRORRRRRRRRRRrrr" Omega shut down along with Zero who was nearby. "What the fuck?!" Dante jumped to his feet. Taterazay ordered Chin to blow his ice horn at the bots, resulting in all three of his men being consumed horribly. Taterazay was too shocked to even be upset. Every noise that escaped his lips was like a half scream half sob which was barely audible. Pyramid Head grunted and swung his sword at the bots. They could not harm him, but he still didn't like them. Geralt was next to go, being eaten by those bots' rays, in obvious agony. "Don't worry g-g-guys, I'll get us o-o-out of here!" Dan wailed as he ran for the rainforest. BANG! He fell to the floor. Sakura and Blanka covered their eyes. They were scared. BANG! BANG! They were dead. Radec fired the arc cannon through the legions. "Go! Go! I'll catch up!" He yelled to Alucard, Kat, Sir Daniel, Juan and Pupuru. The Arc Cannon was running low, and he was beginning to feel a burning sensation. Then it started to hurt, real bad. He could feel it, literally eating away at him.

Shadow tried to use chaos control to freeze time. "Chaos...CONTROL!" Nothing. "CHAOS CONTROL!" Nothing. "Damnit!" Shadow gritted his teeth. "Why isn't it working?" Damien emerged from the crowds of CTobots holding a chaos emerald. "You!" Shadow wanted to tear him limb from limb, but so long as they both had a chaos emerald, that wasn't happening. He heard a few screams in the distance, implying that no one escaped.

"Is that the last of 'em?" Damien asked. The bot nodded. "Good." Aiden stood defeated. "How could you do this, Damien?" Aiden demanded. Damien laughed. "Are you retarded or something? Did you just forget, all that shit you put me through, even nearly killing me, just for your fucking pathetic family?! That didn't save Lena!" Damien yelled. "Go fu-AUUGHH!" Aiden was forced to kneel as Damien shot his kneecap. "I can't believe you were stupid enough to believe-" He stopped to laugh "-to believe I would have had a reason to be on your side!"

"Who the fu-" Aiden felt a bullet go through his throat. "Don't talk like that to me. After all that horror I had to endure, I'm the bad guy?! Fuck you Aiden! FUCK YOU! I hope you burn in hell!". One of the bots handed Damien a jerry can. Damien poured its contents on Aiden, lying in a pool of petrol and his own blood. Damien lit himself a cigarette before tossing the lighter on Aiden. He felt every moment of it, but was unable to voice that. He slowly lost his battle, surrounded by blue lights.

It was actually kinda pretty.

 _ **Author's Note**_

Things got dark real fast.

Hey guys, so I'm back after another while away, but that was a pretty important time for me, I think the break did me some good, so I'll probably update more frequently now. That's all I have to say for this time, so until next time!


	18. Paris Panic

Jacket opened his rucksack and took out a fresh pair of clothes. He set them out and made sure no one was around. He changed and then sat down, still wearing his rubber chicken mask he named Richard. Then he heard footsteps. "Pretty good going there buddy." Jacket looked up. A chubby man in a clown mask stood there. He looked pretty creepy, and had his hair on fire. "I couldn't have done a better job myself." He continued. "Who are you?" Jacket demanded. "An admirer." The clown continued. Jacket took out a double barrel shotgun. "How can I trust you? You arrived at the conference, made no trouble, things aren't looking good for you, I'm afraid."

Sweet Tooth smiled. "Buddy, do I look like the kind of person who would-" BOOM! Sweet Tooth fell to the floor. "Good...shot." Sweet Tooth coughed. Jacket ignored him and pointed his shotgun at the others. "I'm warning you! One wrong move and I'll blow your brains out!" Jacket threatened. He safely made it to the front door, and outside. Then he heard something he wish he didn't. Police sirens. "Shit!" He cussed under his breath. Apartments surrounded the car park. "Well, here it goes." Jacket sped off in his car. The police gave chase. Jacket sighed in relief. He was on the highway right now, looking back he saw no sirens. Then he heard the horn of an oncoming truck. "Jesus!" Jacket screamed, swerving to avoid the collision. He slammed into a concrete barrier, only held back by his seatbelt. Jacket was on the wrong side of the road. But then he looked again. No. He was definitely on the right hand side of the road. "What the hell?" He asked himself, getting out of the car. That truck definitely tried to hit him. But why? He looked on top of the high rise buildings. There he saw a man dressed in grey.

Jacket stared at the man, who stared back. "What the hell am I doing? " Jacket asked himself. He looked at his car. The front was fairly beaten up, but it still worked. Jacket got in and drove off, looking to get out. Calypso smiled. "I think we'll have time for a second competition this year." he chuckled.

Jacket was looking for an exit, but found none. It was almost like there was a part of the city that had been cut off from the rest of the world. Then his car stopped. "Ah, great." Jacket threw his hands up. Then his radio started acting weird. It tuned into some foreign radio station.

"Hello contestants!" The voice sounded. "My name is Calypso, and it with utmost pleasure that I welcome you to Twisted Metal 20. Before the competition I'd like to lay down a few rules. There has been a part of the city I have had to cut off in order to contain the competition, to keep it short and sweet. So that means there is no way out. There is one way to win the competition. Take all your opponents off the road. Whether you disable their vehicles or go for the whole hog and kill them is entirely up to you, but I must warn you, exiting your vehicle during the competition is grounds for disqualification. Other than that. Best of luck to you all."

Then the radio tuned to another station. "Okay Jacket, I don't need to explain about those trucks, but just in case you are wondering, those trucks will ram you if you even brush off them. They are very tempermental, and have been fitted with large chunks of steel as their loads despite looking like ordinary containers, to help with pushing through anything in their way of you. Also, if your car is too damaged, you can repair at garages around the city. I wish you the best of luck. I strongly believe you could win this year." The radio went to static. "Alright then." Jacket revved his engine.

* * *

Sly was on the rooftops, looking down on the chaos. "Any idea what's going on?" Sly asked. "Not really." Bentley answered. Murray and Bentley took notice of Sly's less perky behaviour than usual. "Sly, you do know that Carmelita left here a few months back." Murray reminded him. "Yeah, I know. It's just that I can't help but worry." Sly responded. "It's okay Sly, we'll do what we can here, then we'll help you find her." Bentley suggested. Sly perked up a bit. "You're right. Now, let's get out of here."

Shortly, the Cooper Van was loaded and the trio were ready to go. "Alright guys, say your goodbyes." Sly fixed his hat as Murray drove the van into the streets. Then he felt as the car turned off. "What the hell? Why'd you stop?" Sly asked. "I didn't!" Murray protested. Then the radio started to flicker into life. "Hello contestants!" The voice sounded. "My name is Calypso, and it with utmost pleasure that I welcome you to Twisted Metal 20. Before the competition I'd like to lay down a few rules. There has been a part of the city I have had to cut off in order to contain the competition, to keep it short and sweet. So that means there is no way out. There is one way to win the competition. Take all your opponents off the road. Whether you disable their vehicles or go for the whole hog and kill them is entirely up to you, but I must warn you, exiting your vehicle during the competition is grounds for disqualification. Other than that. Best of luck to you all."

The radio tuned itself to a different station and the voice known as Calypso. "Now, you three. I know you are new to the competition, so I will give you a few tips. There are stations around the city where you can repair your vehicle. There are also two trucks around the city, which are relatively harmless, unless you provoke them. Think of them as animals. Other than that, truthfully, I don't see you winning." The radio tuned out.

* * *

"There we go." Clank patted Sweet Tooth's bandaged wound. "Is it over?" Ratchet asked. "You can look now, Ratchet." Ratchet looked. "Good." Ratchet said. "I hate the sight of blood." Sweet Tooth got up and left the alleyway. "Not even a thank you. What about that?" Clank asked. "I don't know, but maybe we should talk on top of that building." Ratchet suggested. "Good idea." Clank flew himself and Ratchet to the top of the building. "Anyway, we gotta find a way back home." Clank agreed. "But we should clean up this place first. I've got no doubt Dr. Nefarious is involved in this." Ratchet found himself agreeing. "Yeah, you're probably right. And we still don't have enough money for a Spaceflix subscription." Ratchet added. "That too."

Ratchet looked down. "Boy, wonder what's going on down there?" Ratchet asked. "I don't know what you mean." Clank surveyed the area. "Well, I suppose if something had happened, there would maybe be someone or something here, but it just seems so bare. Like something is waiting to happen." Ratchet explained. "Maybe you're looking into it too deeply." Clank suggested. "Maybe, but better safe than sorry I guess."

* * *

Ethan Mars went outside for a walk. He was taking a vacation, just as Madison had told him to. Although he didn't like to admit it, he was enjoying himself. He was walking down the street for only a few seconds, when he noticed something very wrong. The streets were empty. Very empty. And there was a very sinister looking ice cream van and the end of the street, it's sole occupant aside from Ethan. But he still found himself walking towards the van, to at least know what was going on. He walked up to the van and instantly wanted to turn around. But he remembered what he had been through in the past week. This was nothing. "Hello?" Ethan called out to the driver. The driver rolled down his window. He wore some weird kind of harness on his torso with no shirt, although there was a bandaged wound there, accompanied by a clown mask. One of the eyes was crossed out, like it was injured. His head was on fire too, although the guy didn't really care.

"Hello contestants!" The voice sounded. "My name is Calypso, and it with utmost pleasure that I welcome you to Twisted Metal 20. Before the competition I'd like to lay down a few rules. There has been a part of the city I have had to cut off in order to contain the competition, to keep it short and sweet. So that means there is no way out. There is one way to win the competition. Take all your opponents off the road. Whether you disable their vehicles or go for the whole hog and kill them is entirely up to you, but I must warn you, exiting your vehicle during the competition is grounds for disqualification. Other than that. Best of luck to you all."

The radio tuned to a different station. "Good luck Marcus. I think this year. you'll need it. Some very bloodthirsty competitors. I'll leave you to explain the rules to your companion. I suggest you work with him. Also, Ethan, I wouldn't fancy your chances of surviving if you were to abandon your vehicle." The radio turned to static.

"Well, start explaining then." Ethan laughed nervously. "Why don't you get out?" Sweet Tooth demanded. "I'm not an idiot. I'll be torn to shreds if I get out." Ethan explained. "Precisely. Get out." Sweet Tooth pointed his shotgun at Ethan once more. "Okay. Fine. I'll get out." Ethan got out. Sweet Tooth chuckled to himself. "That's what I thought you said."

He sat in the van for a few minutes, listening to french radio about the whole thing. Sweet Tooth thought about what he wanted to wish for. Easy. He wanted Calypso to suffer. But he also wanted to inflict more suffering, just like Calypso did with him.

He stormed into Calypso's office. The man himself sat at a desk, writing, momentarily looking up to see who it was. He went back to his paperwork, unfazed by what he saw. Sweet Tooth walked up to the desk, but Calypso kept on writing. Sweet Tooth slammed his machete into his desk, earning another glance from Calypso. "Show me where she's been hiding all these years" Calypso ignored him. "NOW!" Kane yelled. Now, was when the creepy stuff happened. Calypso stood up. "Your wish is my command" He said. Glowing red. Sinister laughter followed.

Marcus Kane opened his eyes. "Calypsoooooo" He called. "What is this?" He was in a dark place, lying down. "Your wish." Sweet Tooth laughed. "Very funny. Now, enough games." Now it was Calypso's turn to laugh. "Oh but, you see, after Sophie went to seek help, she realised the hospital just wasn't cutting it for her. So she made...alternative arrangements." Sweet Tooth realised in horror, he was buried alive.

He threw his sister's corpse off him and began pounding at the coffin. It wouldn't budge. "You can't kill me!" Sweet Tooth yelled. "I'll find you, I'll fucking find you and I'll fucking kill you! Calypsoooooo!" Sweet Tooth screamed. Calypso stopped listening. Marcus Kane was no more. Although, his machete made a very nice ornament.

Sweet Tooth was starting to panic. The coffin was on fire. He was several feet underground. How long until he died, one way or another? He decided to go later. He put out the fire on his head, and then set about putting out the coffin fire. It burned his gloves and probably his hands, but he didn't care. He was terrified. So terrified, he passed out. He had a dream, or rather, a nightmare. He saw a preacher.

"I know who you are." He said. "I know who you really are." The Preacher was in a padded cell, wearing a straight jacket. "The world must know!" He kept on ranting, but he was seeing something else. Something that was fucked up, even for Sweet Tooth's standards. Then, he saw Calypso sitting in his seat at his office. Staring directly at him. Directly into his soul. He blacked out.

He opened his eyes. He sighed. He was still in the grave, wondering how long he had been in the grave. Probably a long time, it was midnight. The moon was visible.

That was when it hit him. If he climbed out, he was free. That was what he did. He climbed to the top. The graveyard was desolate, in the middle of nowhere. He looked at the grave. Sweet Tooth was spray painted in red across the gravestone. Sweet Tooth chuckled. "Calypso sure has an artistic flair." He mumbled, still wearing his mask. But his head felt cold. He scanned the area for anything Calypso may have left lying around. He found his old van, thankfully. He also found a jerry can, still half full, and a box of matches. A crooked smile formed underneath his clown mask. He doused his head in petrol, and lit it up.

He walked over to his van, with the keys in the door. He got in the van and looked in the back. It was all there. His machete, his victims, even his ice cream. Sweet Tooth was back. He sat in the driver's seat, and looked out the windscreen. The road was long and bare, except for a brick flying towards the windscreen.

The brick flew through the windscreen, causing Sweet Tooth to be dazed and startled by the brick. Ethan opened the van door on the passenger side and snatched Sweet Tooth's shotgun from him. "Pretty good." Sweet Tooth congratulated Ethan. "Alright. Now, explain yourself!"

* * *

Crash and Parappa were the first to realize there was no exit. "Now what do we do? We're locked in!" Parappa asked. "Don't be stupid, we''ll find a way out." Nathan assured the young dog. "Bein' realistic, you're full of shit." John piped up. "Don't you have, like, a sense of optimism?" Nathan hissed. "The dog there, he's just a kid. He'll break down if he knows that." John ignored him. "Our answers are here, so that's where we'll have to stay, like it or not." John continued. "Then we can get out." The Hunter butted in. "He's right. We'll stay here. But I'd be willing to place money on the whole plot being caused by that Calypso fellow." Nate and John agreed.

A siren wailed, signifying the start of something. "Shit." Nate muttered. "Get in that building!" Nate pointed to a run down looking brick building. They ran inside, only for a heavy duty truck to speed by only a few seconds later. They ran into the back of the building, down into a cellar. "Just as I thought." Nathan explained. "When you mentioned Calypso, I thought about that stadium. I figured the only reason he would have for sealing all of the exits to the city, is another kind of event like that."

"But still, you took a gamble with a lot of that, didn't ya?" John asked "Well, I was right, wasn't I?" Nate argued. John shrugged. "Touché". Parappa was feeling pretty down. He just sat there looking kind of spaced out. Nathan went over to talk to him. "Hey, we'll make it out." Nathan tried to comfort him. "How?" Parappa asked. "Well..." "The Marston fellow." "He's gone outside." Nathan just simply stood there. "Oh well, not much we can do now then. Dumbass."

The Hunter wasn't pleased by the response. "I'll go look for him. Save you the trouble." He said in a mocking tone. Crash was rummaging through the contents of the cellar for nothing in particular, while Parappa looked dangerously close to just drifting off to sleep.

* * *

"Okay Sly, I figure if we can just get those trucks after the other contestants, then we can get out of this in one piece. Although we will require a considerable amount of luck for that to happen. Almost immediately afterwards, the truck came into view. "There's no one around though." Murray pointed out. "Then, someone slammed into the back of the Cooper Van, sending it straight into the truck. "Uh oh." The three said in unision. They reversed away from the truck. The truck didn't waste time. it slammed though nearby buildings, not even bothering to stay on the road. The Cooper Van was already speeding down streets, with only Murray's weight keeping the van from tipping over as it swerved around corners, avoiding other vehicles, who were also avoiding the rampaging truck.

Calypso watched on from his office TV screen. Ragewolf, Vile and a few others had shown up to watch as well. "So what's the prize for winning?" Gigaids asked. "A wish." Calypso answered, never looking away from the screen. "For anything you may desire." Ragewolf looked at him. "Isn't that pretty idiotic?" Calypso smiled. "Well, they have to be careful what they wish for." Calypso answered. "I gotta admit, it's pretty intense." Vile commented as a muscle car buried itself into a building, completely destroying it. The camera cut to a Van being chased by one of Calypso's trucks. The truck rammed the van, knocking it off balance, but not destroying it or knocking it into anything. But then there were flames.

The truck's tyres were melting and it lost control. The truck was twisting and turning with no control over where it went until it turned too far. The truck broke off from its massive container on its back and turned onto its side, smashing through a several rows of houses, before finally stopping. Then the container caught up. It crashed into the front of the truck, finishing it off. The whole room went silent. "I thought you said those things were indestructible!" Gigadis taunted. "Well, that's one of the things I love about this competition. Full of surprises." Calypso answered. "But still, pretty cool. I would never have thought a van like that would have flamethrowers." Ragewolf commented. "It wasn't." Calypso muttered. "Huh? Then what caused that ruckus?" Edgar Ross asked. "I think it was that." Calypso pointed to a weird thing on the camera. It stared intently at the camera before bouncing off with a pile of unintelligible gibberish. It was a sphere-like creature, completely on fire, with eyes and a mouth. It was able to make faces and noises, and really liked being able to do that.

"Gwo?" The thing was joined by another similar creature, only this one was completely orange, and not on fire. This one was also pulling faces, which the flaming one laughed at. They were then joined by two more. They were both similar, with one being made out of a purple translucent substance, and wearing a propeller hat with no peak, and the other one being made out of icicles. Then they were joined by one, who looked like he was made of nuclear waste, with a visible skeleton. Then the other truck came speeding around the corner towards them.

"What are you doing?" Zarok demanded. "I want to see if the Deviants can handle this one." Calypso answered. The Deviants huddled together when they saw another truck coming. They stopped and stared, and then they went crazy. The green one was the first to react, jumping onto the bonnet of the truck, and then the orange one screamed. The others didn't take it well, with the purple one flying around the truck in an attempt to confuse it, the flaming one breathing fire everywhere and the icy one freezing everything. The flaming one was attempting to repeat its strategy with the first one, but Calypso slammed on the brakes to stop the truck, only to discover the icy one had frozen the road. The truck slid across the ice, had its tyres melted, and came to a screeching halt. "That was close." Vile laughed. Then a stick of dynamite smashed through the front windscreen. The truck exploded. John Marston rode off on Death, back to Nathan and the others to let them know it was safe to come out.

The Cooper Van pulled up next to the wreckage. "Wow. What do you reckon caused this?" Sly asked. "Better get out and see." Betley suggested. Shortly, the three were out and looking for any signs of what caused the wreck. "We saw the dynamite blow it up, so why are we doing this?" Sly asked. "Because that dynamite would never have gotten in there if the truck was moving. Even if it did, it would have been tossed out." Bentley explained. "Whatever you say." Sly muttered as him and Murray looked around disinterestedly.

"I think we can explain." A voice offered. It belonged to a man wearing a black trench coat, and some armour. He had a rifle on his back, and probably kept a few more guns concealed in the trench coat. Next to him stood a soldier who looked like he came from the future, evident from his incredibly advanced tech. He kept his face concealed, so it was impossible to tell what he looked like. He also had with him some form of drone that followed him everywhere. "Those things over there." The man in the trench coat pointed at the Deviants who had just bundled together to stare at him. "We've been following those things all day, until lost them during that demolition derby."

"They probably destroyed that truck." The other man explained. "They're pretty unnatural. I've never seen anything like them." The Cooper Gang looked skeptically at the two men. "Okay..." They then looked at the Deviants. They were breathing fire and ice, some of them bouncing between the buildings, creating a cacophony of screaming. "Sir Galahad." The man in the trench coat said. "Lucas Kellan." The other man said.

"The Cooper Gang." Sly said. "So how do we get-" The Deviants were gone. Instead, there was a stupid looking robot there. It had a round torso, a smile etched into its face, and glasses too. "My masters wish to welcome you aboard our ship!" It explained. "Is that were those round..things went?" Sly asked. "Yes." The Cooper Gang looked at Galahad and Kellan, who returned the stares. "Okay then. Let's go guys." Sly ordered, stepping into the teleporter.

* * *

John dismounted Death. Now safely back with Nathan and the rest. "How're ya holding up?" John asked. "Okay I guess. The other two have calmed down, and that other guy went off looking for you." Nate explained. "I'm back." The Hunter announced. "I think this derby is at an end. There aren't that many cars left on the road."

They were interrupted by the sound of skidding, then a crash. Another car drifted around the corner to a screeching halt. Two more men emerged from around the corner, presumably from the wreckage. Then Calypso appeared.

The driver stepped out of his car. "Hey! It's that asshole who left me for dead!" Sweet Tooth yelled accusingly. "Now, now, Marcus! Wait your turn." Calypso wagged his finger. "Jacket here must make his wish."

"Cut the bullshit. Now, where is the leader of 50 blessings?" Jacket demanded. "I regret to inform you he died during the contest. He was the poor man who you ran over while trying to get away from one of my trucks."

Sweet Tooth shoved Jacket out of the way. "What about my wish?" He demanded. "I gave you your wish. Now, stand aside." Sweet Tooth didn't budge. "I wasn't satisfied. Can I lodge a complaint?" Calypso scowled at Sweet Tooth. "I really am in a rush, Marcus. Don't test my patience." Calypso threatened. Sweet Tooth took out his shotgun and fired. Calypso didn't even budge. "Well, I warned you." Calypso smiled as he started to glow red.

Then he stopped, and vanished. "What's he doing?" Parappa asked. "That there may have something to do with it." John pointed to a massive floating aircraft carrier overhead. "What in the blazes is that?!" He demanded. "It's like this one movie I saw, can't remember what it was called." Nathan answered. Then a soldier parachuted down. He was wearing yellow uniform, with shoulder pads and everything. "Hi." He said, landing. The group stared at him. "Are you Nathan Drake?" He asked. "Yeah." Nate answered. "Well then, I think you'd be interested in coming up to our ship. We'd love to have you on board." The soldier saluted. "Here." He said, throwing a small capsule on the ground. The capsule expanded into a booth of some sort. "Step in here, and I'll take you to the leader." He explained.

"Can we have a minute to talk it over?" Jacket asked. "Go ahead, take your time." They all huddled together. "I think we should." Jacket stated. "What if it's Calypso?" Sweet Tooth asked. "Well then, we're screwed." Jacket answered. "Exactly why we shouldn't go." Sweet Tooth argued. "But maybe they're good people." The Hunter suggested. "In this world? You wish." Nate scoffed. "Come on guys, lets be diplomatic about this." Ethan tried to reason, but to no avail. Parappa broke away from the group. "Look, I don't really care if everything's bad right now, these people seem cool. I don't know about you guys, but I'm going with them. You can do what you like by yourself!" Parappa stepped into the teleporter.

The rest of the group just stood there, surprised by Parappa's outburst of maturity. "Well, I'm going." Ethan spoke up, before him and Crash stepped into the teleporter too. Nate and John stepped in, followed by The Hunter, and then, the remaining two stepped in.

They all appeared on the landing deck of the airship. "I'd suggest you go and see Kutaragi!" One of the soldiers yelled over the wind. "You can't miss him! He's just over there!" The soldier pointed to the doors with the Cross, Square, Circle and Triangle on them. The group made their way to the place, went inside and up the first few steps. There was a long table, with about half the seats full. Beyond the head of the table, up another set of stairs, there was an oriental man on a floating screen. The background behind him was impossible to make out, but he was fairly easy to identify. All heads turned to the group as they entered the room, including his.

"Ah!" He spoke up, pleased to see the group. "Welcome. Please, take a seat. I think it's time to welcome you to the Playstation All Stars."


	19. Just like friends

Kutaragi was brief and secretive during the meeting, he said that he was still waiting for others to arrive, whatever that meant. The All Stars had split up to explore the PS Airship 1994 as Kutaragi called it.

* * *

Aiden threw another dart at the dartboard. It hit Damien between his two eyes. "180" Dante cheered sarcastically. "So. Why's everyone in such a bad mood?" Jacket asked, smoking like a chimney. "We died today." Dante responded. "Damn." Jacket muttered, stubbing his old cigarette and was about to light a new one. "Hey, d'ya think you could give those things a rest for a while?" Jacket put away his lighter. "Fine." He grumbled. He still had his chicken mask on, but he had cut a hole in the front for his mouth. "Alright. But give me one reason to be happy now." He complained. Messi entered the bar. Jacket stopped. "Hey guys." Messi sat down. "Hey, what happened?" Dante asked. "I thought you couldn't speak English." "The Kutaragi guy gave me something. I don't know what it was, but I was left with complete understanding of the language."

"Canigetyourautograph?!" Jacket blurted out in one go, holding a permanent marker. "Sure." Messi signed his pure white t-shirt. Dante snickered. "Fanboy much?" "Fuck off." Jacket retorted. "Do you have any idea who this guy is?!" Jacket jumped to Messi's defence. "He's Lionel Messi!" Dante's expression remained blank. Jacket went off on a rant. Heihachi took aim with his dart. He threw it towards the board with such force that the board broke in half. Aiden laughed. "Bullseye." Heihachi threw again. He managed to hit one of the halves, breaking it in two. "Triple 11." Heihachi threw the third dart. It embedded itself in the wall. "I think we can agree you won." Aiden shook hands with Heihachi. "Get a load of that guy." Sweet Tooth looked over at Jacket. "He doesn't know how to shut up." Dante had a lot of information now. "Alright, well, if you're so good at soccer, why don't you show me?" Dante challenged. "Oh he will! "Jacket retaliated. "Right?" He turned to Messi. "Sure."

* * *

Danner wandered through the corridors on his own, with his map out. "I admit Danner. PS Airship 1994 is impressive, no?" BlackJack asked. "It sure is, but how do you know so much about it?" Danner asked. "I know a lot of things." BlackJack answered. "But tell me, is there anything you can tell me about that Kutaragi guy? He's kinda weird." "I fear not, Danner." BlackJack promptly responded. "I can't find anything on him. One thing I do know, is that he is considered a threat to the invasions we have been having of late." BlackJack explained. "I see. Tell me, who's behind those?" "Once again, I cannot supply an answer, although I will work on it, yes?" "Sure." Danner returned his attention to his surroundings. He was walking down a corridor to a leisure area, where he saw a young girl just staring at a vending machine. She would make hand movements towards it, and then hesitate and pull her hands back. Danner tried not to care, but he still had to ask.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" Danner walked over to the girl. "Well...uh..." The girl looked down at her feet. Danner then put two and two together. "You don't know how this works, do you?" The girl nodded. "It's a vending machine. You see those numbers underneath all the drinks?" "Uh huh." "You just press the number beneath the drink you want on this dial here, and the drink falls down to the bottom, like so." There was a small thud as the can hit the bottom of the tray. "Just reach in and take it." The girl reached through the door of the machine and took the drink, cracking open the can. "Thanks, Mr..." "Arran Danner, call me Danner." "I'm Ellie." The girl told him. Ellie took a drink from the can and immediately grimaced, earning a smile from Danner. "You don't like Strawberry flavour either, huh?" Danner laughed, walking over to the leisure area, placing the half full can on the coffee table. "Here, try this one." Danner entered another number, twice.

"Raspberry, it tastes slightly better." Danner told her. "I'll say." Ellie agreed. The two sat down on the couch. "Tell me something. How come you know so little about technology?" Danner asked. "I'd rather not say." Ellie refused. "Aw come on, you can trust me." Danner pleaded. "Yeah, right!" Ellie snorted "I just met you like, five minutes ago." Danner had no answer. "Good point." They went silent for about a minute, until Danner broke the silence. "You know, I come from London. Do you know where that is?" "Beats me." Ellie answered. "Bloody hell." Danner muttered. "Well, I kill people for a living." Ellie looked at him. "You're telling me this because?..." Danner shrugged. "I just thought it would help establish a trust between us. Was I wrong?" Ellie nodded. "Look, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to go." She got up and was walking away, when she heard, "Goodbye, Ms. Williams!" Ellie turned around and whipped out her knife. She charged at Danner, taking him by surprise and pinning him to the ground. "How do you know my name?" She demanded. "He didn't, I did." BlackJack answered. "Well, you better tell me how you knew that, or your buddy here is gonna get it!" She threatened, pressing the knife against Danner's throat. "I think you are in need of anger management. Is very unhealthy to be this easily angry." BlackJack advised.

Ellie sliced Danner's throat. Nothing happened. No blood, no wounds, no nothing. She tried again. And again. Still nothing. "What the hell?" Danner pushed her off. "I'd throw you off the ship right now, but I'm curious too."

* * *

Delsin sat on his bed in his "quarters". He had a lot on his mind. Speaking of his quarters, they were perfect. A little too perfect. But he wasn't asking questions. He then heard a knock on the door. Delsin went to answer it and found Kat standing at the door. "Hi" She said. "What?"Delsin groaned, not in the mood for social interaction. "I wanted to talk, with you, Cole, Fetch and Messi." She explained. "Why don't you go and find them?" Delsin asked. "I don't know where they are."

Delsin shrugged. "What do you want to talk about?" "Well, I think there may be a connection between my powers and yours." Kat explained. "Of course there is. You, Cole and I, maybe even Messi, we're conduits." Delsin took one look at Kat's face before looking left and right. No one. "Come in." He said. Delsin shut the door, and the two sat down on his couch. "You don't know about conduits?" Kat shook her head. "Okay. So there's this sphere. It's called the Ray Sphere. And some people are born with this gene, they'll never know about, until they come in contact with it. The thing is, that it kills those not born with the gene. It's like a bomb, and the gene is your shield. But anyway, tell me, what happened when you discovered your powers? I may be able to learn something."

"Well, I think it has something to do with Dusty." Kat explained. "Who?" Delsin asked. Kat held up her cat. "I see." Delsin looked a the cat. It looked like any other cat in terms of shape, but its body was like a look into outer space. "The strength of my powers always seems to have some connection to Dusty. There was a time where Dusty was sick, and my powers were weakened. Delsin put the cat down. "I don't know, I've never heard of a cat that does stuff like that." Delsin admitted. "But anyway, I don't think we need to confirm the source of your powers. You got them, they caused chaos, end of story. You're here now." "It matters to me!" Kat snapped. "You're almost as bad as Cole." "Don't you know about Cole?" Delsin asked. "No?" Kat answered, intrigued.

"Well, about seven years ago, in the city of New Marais, Cole Macgrath became the beast, and wiped out an entire six states' population. But before any more damage is done, some girl with concrete powers kills him. Now, the people of the US aren't exactly very welcoming towards conduits now, and so the government needs to take care of the problem. So they establish the D.U.P., led by that same girl, Brooke Augustine. They hunted down conduits, labeled us "Bio-Terrorists" and taught everyone to fear us. They didn't kill us. Instead, they locked us up in detention centres so we couldn't use our powers. Then the government decides that it's safe enough for control over the conduits to be returned to the military. So near Seattle, the first truck load of Conduits is being sent to a military base. It never arrived. That's where my story begins.

* * *

Delsin Rowe stood back to admire his handiwork. His tribe had put up a billboard to congratulate the local sheriff on being promoted. Delsin changed it so he had a half eaten doughnut in one hand, a gun which he carelessly held in the other, and two cartoonishly large eyes. Then he heard police sirens. "Augh crap." Delsin muttered, before jumping down off the roof into the fish guttery below. "Who-Who's there?" An old native woman came out of her office, wielding a stapler. "It's just me, Betty, and could you put the stapler down? Seriously." Betty looked up at Delsin. "Why aren't you at the longhouse?" "I...uh, just...didn't feel all that...Akomish tonight." Delsin lied. "What were you doing up on the roof?" Betty asked. Delsin didn't answer. "Were you up to mischief?" Betty asked again. "Well-" There was a loud knocking on the door. "Delsin! I know you're in there! I'm gonna get Betty, and she's gonna be at the door in five minutes!" Reggie yelled. Betty gave Delsin a look that said 'Aha!' "Alright. But this is-" "The last time." Delsin finished her sentence. "I know." "Now then. I've got to get back to my office. Apparently, I'm getting another phone call." Betty returned to her office. Delsin left through the upstairs fire exit. He took the back route along the bay, finally arriving at the longhouse. "Okay, I'm here, just got to establish an alibi, and-" He reached for the door handle until it opened from the other side. Reggie stood there with a scowl on his face.

"Hey man, I've been looking, like, everywhere for you" Delsin turned to run until Reggie grabbed him by the collar. "Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to keep having to arrest my own brother over and over again?!" Reggie demanded. "Well, maybe you should stop arresting your own brother over and over again!" Delsin argued. "Do you think this would make our parents proud?! Huh? Misdemeanour vandalism?!" "Look, there's a lot of scary shit in this world, and I'm just trying to show my talent-" "What the hell are you even talking about?!" Reggie demanded. "Actually, no, go ahead, and explain what big bad scary shit you'll protect us all from!" Reggie mocked. "If you would just listen, and let me explain!" "Go ahead and explain, cause I don't see-" "Reggie." Delsin went wide eyed. "What?!" "Truck." Delsin pointed. The military truck was driving erratically all over the road, destroying other cars,before turning over on its side. Reggie and Delsin stood back. Two people managed to escape the wreckage. "I'm going after them. Stay back." Reggie chased the two who escaped. "That thing's gonna blow. You stay away from it!" Reggie yelled. "Stay away for the exploding thing. Got it." Delsin smiled. He looked around the wreckage until he saw a man trapped underneath a door. Delsin lifted the door, allowing the man up. "You alright?" Delsin asked, helping the guy to his feet. "Yeah, thanks man, I'm alright." Then Reggie came back. The man immediately grabbed Delsin, facing him towards Reggie. Reggie took out his gun. "I don't wanna hurt nobody!" The man pleaded. "Alright, calm down, just keep your hands where I can see 'em!" Reggie instructed. The man held out one arm, and proceeded to use it to absorb smoke with it.

He fired at Reggie, narrowly missing his shoulder. Delsin grabbed his arm, and felt a surge of energy wash through him. He had a very brief flashback, and then blacked out. But that flashback he had. It wasn't his own. He saw the same guy who he saved from the wreckage, locked up in a prison, a horrible one at that.

He woke up. The other conduit had left a trail of destruction. Then, he took a step forward.

* * *

"Hold on." Delsin paused. "I just wanna do something. Show me your hand." Kat was puzzled by the request. "Huh?"

"Just do it." Kat showed him her and, and he grabbed it. He started pulling faces as he held on longer, eventually passing out. "Are you alright?" Kat asked, checking for signs of life. He then started laughing. "What's so funny?" Kat asked. "I can't believe you live in a sewer." He explained, opening his eyes. Kat would've taught him not to make remarks like that, but she was more interested in how he found that out. "You can tell all of that by just holding my hand?" Kat asked. "I can tell everything. Y'know, I think your story is a lot more interesting than mine." Kat smiled at the compliment. "Thanks. But back to yours."

"Alright, so then-" Delsin looked at his phone. "Shit. I went on. Sorry to keep you." Delsin got up. "Wait, no, I've got time!" Kat protested. "You're interested in that stuff?" Delsin asked, sounding surprised. "Yeah." Delsin thought for a second. "Alright. Come back tomorrow. I'll tell you all about it." Delsin left his room. Kat left the room as well. She saw Delsin. "Hold up! Wh-" Delsin disappeared through an air vent. Kat made a mental note to come back tomorrow. "Come on Dusty, I think we should explore this place."

* * *

"Come on then, Mr. Soccer player, let's see how good you are!" Dante teased. Aiden, T-Bone, Jacket, Heihachi and Sweet Tooth watched from the stands. It was like the TARDIS, just mind blowing how much was on the PS Airship 1994. There were about 32 levels, and they were on level 20. The field was multi purpose astro turf, but the stands around it could easily seat around 15,000 people. "Makes you wonder how all this is crammed in." Aiden remarked. "Yeah." T-Bone answered.

Dante had fallen on his ass already. "Alright, lucky break. Let's go again." Dante lost the ball immediately and watched as the ball was flicked over him and into the back of his net. 2-0. Dante then decided the best course of action would be to guard his goal. Messi took a look at Dante's idea and then ran towards the goal. He prepared to take a shot. As his foot went forward, Dante dived in the direction of the shot. It never arrived. Instead, Messi buried the ball in the other corner, completely fooling Dante. 3-0.

Half an hour later, it was 34-0. Dante still tried valiantly to stop all shots, but they kept going in, on top of Jacket mocking him from the stands. "Listen buddy, if you don't shut up right now-" "What?" Jacket taunted. "You'll get angry?" Dante grabbed him by the collar and threw him onto the field. "Any last words?" Dante asked, pressing Rebellion against Jacket's throat. "35-0" Jacket looked on as Messi poked the ball into the back of the net, before getting to his feet. Dante swung at him with Rebellion, knocking Jacket into the stands, but causing no damage, mysteriously. "What the hell?" Dante asked himself, before taking out Ebony and Ivory and firing rapidly at Jacket. Then he felt energy inside him, waiting to be used. Jacket saw it, a blue field radiating from Dante. Dante tried to tap into the power. He held rebellion over his shoulder, slicing three times, before turning and slicing at Jacket.

Jacket exploded into tiny shapes. "Hell awaits you!" Dante yelled. Jacket then reappeared at the other end of the pitch. Dante was bewildered but still managed to open fire on him. He was completely shocked however, when Jacket produced a pot of boiling water from nowhere and tossed it at Dante. Dante covered his eyes as the water scalded him. Jacket threw a pair of scissors and fired his nail gun at Dante, the combined impact knocking Dante back into the goal net. Dante was still recovering from that when Jacket pinned him to the ground, now wearing a mantis mask and produced a drill. He used it to drill into Dante's skull, until Dante kicked him off. "You're dead." Dante pointed rebellion at him. "Wait!" Jacket raised his arms in the air. "Your head! I drilled into it!" Dante felt the place where his skull had been caved in.

It felt normal. There was just unblemished skin. His skull felt intact, and there wasn't even any blood. Dante rushed out of the gym. Jacket ran after him.

* * *

"Alright, where are you?" Eggman asked. "We are just about to leave for Vekta." Kutaragi answered. "Where are you?"

"I'll be there in half an hour." Eggman answered. When the all-stars jumped out of the plane, Eggman fortunately had the Egg Mobile. He used it to get back to the Egg Fleet and so now here he was, searching for the PS Airship 1994. "I'll tell you what boss, I'm liking this new good side of you." Orbot commented. "Oh shut up." Eggman grumbled. Orbot left, seeing his services weren't needed. "It makes me wonder why I can't build anything competent." He thought to himself. "Except for those two."

"Having a think about the past, are we?" Eggman turned. "You!" Eggman spat. "What are you doing here?!"

"Well, you interfered with my plans at the Chemical Plant, so I thought I'd teach you not to do that."

"So it was YOU who I captured! I should've known!" Eggman glared accusingly, before being lifted into the air, seeing cold, red soulless eyes staring at him. "I want the chaos emeralds. Tell me where they are, and how to get them. I'll spare you're pathetic life then. "I don't know where they are." Eggman was tossed across the room, then immediately picked up again. "You're lying. Show me where they are." Eggman didn't respond. He slipped out of his hitman's grip and fell to the floor. "Five Seconds." Eggman heaved himself onto his feet.

They walked down corridors, eventually finding an emerald. It was stuck down a long and narrow tube. "I'll leave you get it." Eggman suggested. "Very well." The hitman thinned himself and fell down the tube. "Here it is." He said, holding the emerald up to look at it. His grip tightened, crumpling the emerald. "It's a fake!" He yelled accusingly. He turned back to face Eggman. The tube sealed shut behind him. "Ohohohoho! I thought you were much smarter than to go down the garbage chute!" He laughed. "Oh well, today _is_ garbage day, so...terribly sorry." The tube shot off, away from the Egg Carrier. "Impossible!" The hitman complained. He was stuck there for sure.

Eggman returned to the observation deck, surrounded by nervous looking Egg Pawns. "Just perfect." He grumbled. "Why don't I make them smarter than a bag of rocks?" A hologram appeared before him. "I see everything went well?" Kutaragi asked, rather smugly. "How did you know he was coming?" Eggman demanded. "The Luchador told me. He fought with him, and saw him follow the plane you took to the Amazon. I then figured he was after you, and so made it my first duty to warn you." Kutaragi explained. "But tell me, how did you take care of him?"

"I put a fake emerald down one of the garbage chutes. He took the bait and that was that." Kutaragi smiled. "I see why I appointed you now. I wouldn't have thought of that."

"Alright, that's enough. Let's just get this over with." Then metal door was torn down slowly, creating an awful sound. Nightmare stood there while the door fell with a satisfying thud. "Did you try knocking?" Eggman asked sarcastically. "Ah, there you are! I was wondering were you were!" Kutaragi smiled. "What is that?!" Eggman demanded. "'That' is Nightmare." Kutaragi explained. "I'll say." Eggman muttered. "He is an all-star, but he can be very ill tempered. I would advise staying in the Egg Mobile."

"I'll take that advice on board." Eggman replied, getting into the Egg Mobile. "Who are you?!" Nightmare demanded. "Don't be alarmed, we're here to request your assistance." Kutaragi tried to reason. "Bullshit! I work alone!" Nightmare yelled in response. "Where are you going?!" He demanded as Eggman attempted to creep out the hole in the door. "Get back here!" Nightmare flew off after him, always just an inch or two away from his prize. Eggman took Nightmare through corridor after corridor, until they eventually reached a landing deck. Eggman kept flying up, with Nightmare just below him.

"Almost there." Nightmare prepared to latch onto the Egg Mobile. Then the door underneath it opened, and out fell a wrecking ball. It hit Nightmare hard, knocking him back down onto the Egg Carrier. "Hohohoho! Gets them every time!" Eggman grinned smugly. The Egg Mobile descended back to the landing bay.

Nightmare opened his eyes and got up, still feeling the impact of that wrecking ball to the face. "Damnit! That bastard! I swear if I see him again, I'll-" "Do what?" Eggman asked. Nightmare threw Soul Edge at the Egg Mobile. There were sparks and sizzles, before the mobile fell to the deck. "Uh oh" Eggman muttered, before making a bolt for something to defend himself with. Nightmare flew after him. "How is a man that fa so fast?" Nightmare thought to himself as he raced after Eggman. Eggman eventually reached a backup Egg Mobile, parked neatly on the deck. Nightame stopped in mid air. "Wait, what? You plan to stop me with another one of those? Pathetic." Nightmare remarked. "Oh, I almost forgot!" Eggman pressed a button and the robot rose. He was now piloting a larger robot version of himself, only designed for combat. "I hope you like my Death Egg Robot, I put a lot of work into it." Nightmare scoffed. "It's somehow more ridiculous looking than you are."

Eggman launched a spike arm at Nightmare, which was caught and thrown back. Eggman used his other spike arm to knock the other out of the air. The two arms returned to their original positions before Nightmare rushed up to the robot and sliced at it. Eggman was able to block most most the slashes and return a few punches of his own. The robot then rose into the air, above Nightmare, and stomped down on Nightmare. Nightmare held up Soul Edge to provide some defence. He was still crushed by the robot, but Soul Edge pierced the robot's foot. Nightmare allowed for Soul Edge to create a fiery vortex, enveloping the bottom half of the robot.

"Phew!" Eggman wiped his brow. "It sure is hot in here." He looked down and saw the fire covering the bottom half of his robot. "Guess I should get him to stop." Eggman muttered.

Nightmare tore free from the robot's foot, leaving the bottom half of the robot steaming. He looked up and saw the robot's eyes staring at him. Nightmare braced himself for an attack, using Soul Edge as a shield. The attack came. A giant laser beam that Nightmare struggled to hold off. Then the two spike arms joined in on the attack, causing a satisfying crack.

Eggman heard it too. He stopped the laser and looked. Nightmare had crashed into a wall, and his sword beside him was cracked badly. Then, another fiery vortex. Eggman stood back. "What's going on?" Eggman asked. "You damaged the sword which is his life source. If that sword is damaged, it will give Nightmare incredible power. Think of it as a destiny bond. One fails, the other helps." Kutaragi explained. "Great." Eggman sighed. "But as long as you have that Chaos Emerald, you should be fine." Nightmare reappeared, slamming Soul Edge into the robot's right arm, ripping it off. Then the arm was thrown back at the robot, piercing it's chest. "So much for being fine!" Eggman grumbled, abandoning the Death Egg Robot as it exploded in Nightmare's face. "What do you plan to do next?" Kutaragi asked as the Egg Mobile sped away from the facility. "It's going to take him some time for him to find me again, so I'm hoping to get him trapped in the Egg Carrier's laser cannon. That should destroy that sword of his."

Nightmare sprinted down corridors looking for Eggman. "Where is he?! When I find him, I'm going to tear him into tiny pieces!" He looked ahead and saw what he was looking for. The Egg Mobile crept forward slowly. "Hey!" Nightmare yelled. The Egg Mobile accelerated immediately, pursued by Nightmare. Flying through corridor after corridor, Nightmare was then hit by a steel ball, which he ignored. He looked behind him and saw a silver hedgehog giving chase to him. Nightmare ignored it and remained in hot pursuit of Eggman. Eventually, they reached the top of the carrier, and lunged at Eggman. Then the silver hedgehog knocked him out of the air. Nightmare turned to face it and launched Soul Edge at it. The Hedgehog avoided it and curled up into a ball. The ball shot forward towards Nightmare, who kicked it to stop it in it's tracks, but not without cringing.

Nightmare rushed over to collect Soul Edge, but the Hedgehog struck again, bowling Nightmare over. Then a drone appeared, floating in mid air. It picked up Soul Edge and flew off. "Hey! Give me that!" Nightmare yelled, flying off and leaving the Silver Hedgehog in the dust. The drone looked over it's shoulder to see Nightmare in hot pursuit. Nightmare tackled the drone , having it fall towards the ground, along with Soul Edge. Nightmare sped towards Soul Edge, finally catching it. "Finally." Nightmare made sure the sword was mostly unharmed. "Now, where is that pathetic pile of cartilage?"

"Over here!" Nightmare turned to face Eggman. He was standing back on the observation desk, grinning from ear to ear, speaking into a microphone. Nightmare wanted to go for Eggman, but stopped. "Go ahead." Eggman goaded. "Take a shot." Nightmare didn't move. "Oh well, if you won't take a shot, I will!" Eggman laughed as a soft humming noise was heard. Nightmare looked towards the source of the noise. A large yellow dish that dwarfed even him.

Then the energy blast hit him. Nightmare barely managed to get Soul Edge up in time, but to no avail. Soul Edge began to crack. Then, a piece fell off. And that was when Nightmare came to the grim realisation that he had been outsmarted. The final pieces of Soul Edge broke off as the cannon stopped, allowing Nightmare's limp body to fall all the way to the ground.

"You got him?" Kutaragi seemed surprised. "Why so surprised?" Eggman asked. "And say, what's the idea of having every Tom, Dick and Harry on my fleet?! I'll tell you, unless I had this chaos emerald I'd be toast!"

"It will all pay off in the end." Kutaragi told him. "Alright. I can see you now. I'll just repair my army, and then we'll go."

* * *

"X!" Zero yelled. X turned around. "Hey, Zero!" X was relieved to see Zero. "You have a lot of questions to answer!" Zero snapped. "Like why did you turn on us?" Shadow demanded. "I-uh what?" X was confused. "No, I remember being hit by something at the chemical plant, and I woke up here! Honest!" X protested. "I don't believe you for a second!" Zero yelled accusingly. Shadow turned to Omega. "You don't think it could be-"

"Affirmative." Omega answered. "I would prefer if his name were not to be mentioned." He advised. "Why not? It's not like he can kill you." Shadow argued. "It isn't that. It is something much worse." Omega explained. "What?"

"He knows, that I am the only one who is a match for him. If I mention his name, or speak of him, he will kill everyone here, and destroy everything. That is a promise he made to me directly." Omega explained. "You underestimate me" Shadow argued. "I fear it is you who underestimate him. He has knocked you out twice in two days, and would have killed you unless there was an intervention. I urge you to consider your chances." Shadow gave Omega a funny look. "Why do you care so much?" Shadow asked. Omega went silent and walked off. Shadow decided to leave him alone.

X and Zero finished arguing. "So maybe it wasn't you." Zero concluded. "Of course it wasn't. But who was it?" X asked. "I guess we'll find out later." 

Omega walked down halls to check out his assigned quarters. He kept on thinking about that question, and to be honest, he didn't really think of an answer to the question. Why did he care so much?

* * *

"Hey!" Dante demanded. Kutaragi turned to face Dante, Jacket, Messi, Heihachi, Sweet Tooth, Aiden, T-Bone, Ellie and Danner. He didn't even need to hear what they were going to ask. "You attacked each other and found that you could not kill?" They all nodded. "Well, I'm prepared to explain.I apologise, as this is a bit overdue, but nonetheless, I think you are ready to hear about All-Star power."

 _ **Author's Note**_

I'll be writing about other characters later, but I first wanted to write this chapter, to kind of establish how things will pan out. Next time, I'll be writing about a completely new set of characters. Why does Nightmare attack Eggman?. Because Nightmare is a prick. Other than that, nothing much else. Until Next Time!


	20. Fearless Warriors Pt2

Kratos and Nariko were busy scrubbing permanent marker off their faces. Deadpool meanwhile, just laughed hysterically to himself. Lara went over to him, concerned that he wouldn't live for the next five minutes. "What are you doing?" Lara hissed. "They'll kill you if you don't get out of here." Deadpool stopped laughing. "Oh, yeah! That! Just a minute." Deadpool took a small little bag from his belt and began to rummage through it. Everything imaginable came out. Lara kept track of everything she saw come out.

Several hundred doodles of his murder fantasies, a few heads of critics who didn't give the deadpool movie a positive review, his cat, an aquarium, several more heads, presumably his enemies, a few selfies with some other superheroes, very few of who were pleased to be in them, a cartoonishly oversized rocket launcher, a minigun, a few bandoliers of bullets for the minigun, an atom bomb, a nuclear missile, a crudely forged license for a nuclear missile, a tv, his comics, unfinished Ikea furniture, unfinished jigsaw puzzles, some sour milk, mouldy bread and crushed eggs, a few pictures of Activision's burned down headquarters and finally, what he was looking for. "Aha!" He cheered, holding the sword high. It didn't look much better than the two katanas he had on his back, but he seemed pretty triumphant to find it.

"Now. Who wants to go first?" Deadpool asked. Then there was a loud rumbling on the horizon. "Okay then." Deadpool took out his two katanas, putting the other sword in one of the sheathes. Kratos and Nariko agreed to help get these guys too. So the three charged off to fight against seemingly impossible odds.

Impossible odds for the soldiers. Deadpool was in the thick of it all. his katanas decapitated many, while Kratos created a bloodbath on his own. Nariko had already wiped out her fair share of soldiers. The fight was over as quick as it started, and it was pretty obvious who had won.

"I have to do things myself, it seems." A voice sighed. The three looked around for the source of the voice, but it was nowhere to be seen. "Show yourself, coward!" Kratos bellowed. It then rammed into Kratos at incredible speeds, lifting him into he air. Deadpool took out his other sword, sheathing his katanas. "Stop!" He yelled. "Or I'll shoot!"

"With a sword?" Came the response. "Uh, yeah!" Deadpool stopped to think. "Damned smart person." He muttered "Okay, I'll stab you!" He retorted triumphantly. "With what?" Deadpool snorted. "My-WHAT?!" He turned to be met with a sword through his skull. "I thank you for returning the sword." The figure pointed his sword at Nariko. Finally, he revealed himself. "So now you show yourself." Nariko readied her sword. The figure had a shiny metallic surface which was dark blue and styled like a king's robe. It had a yellow chest and hollow red eyes on what appeared to be a screen. "Yes, it is unfortunate that I've had to do this, but, he wasn't going any other way."

"But...I've seen him reattach his limbs!" Nariko explained, stunned at the silent merc with a mouth. He briefly glanced at Deadpool's lifeless body. "This sword was stolen by him." He explained "It's a metal which stops any and all healing of wounds. Rest assured, he won't be getting back up, and neither will you." Nariko launched the Heavenly sword. The robot encased itself in a black diamond, deflecting the sword. The robot snapped his own sword in half and slammed into Nariko as a ball. Nariko went flying backwards, along the ground, digging up mounds of dirt, creating a hill on the mostly flat plains. The ball came rushing toward Nariko as she struggled to get to her feet, until Kratos stepped in the way and using his Gauntlets of Apollo. "Shall we set aside our differences to fight the common enemy?" Kratos asked. "Very well." Nariko agreed. Nariko took out her cannon and fired at the robot. It caught the ball and threw it back like a tennis ball. Nariko batted the ball back with the heavenly sword. Then Kratos took the robot by surprise and knocked it away with his gauntlets. "Where did you get that?" Kratos asked. "The cannon?" Nariko asked. "I've always had this cannon." Nariko answered. "But you have no pockets or sheaths to carry it with. How is it there?" Nariko paused. "Never mind! Look out!" Nariko launched the Heavenly sword at the robot. The shield came up again and blocked the weapon.

"You'll have to try harder than that" The robot taunted. "Bohan promised me so much more."

"Bohan!" Nariko cried in realisation "He's the one responsible for all this!" The robot looked doubtfully at Nariko. "Well, if you put it that way, I guess so." Then he was hit by bullets. "Really?" He turned to face Lara who had fired the shots. "Bullets?" Lara dropped her guns and turned to run. "Such ignorance." He grabbed Lara by her neck, and held her up. Kratos and Nariko both made advances to get Lara free, but the robot simply held up his free hand. "One more move and there won't be a Lara to save." He threatened, cold as ice. "As for you, I'm really not quite sure if I should take pity or not; using bullets against me!" He threw Lara to the ground, gasping and coughing for air. But it was only false hope. There was a soft whirring and Lara found herself staring at the robot as his hands started to glow yellow. " _And now you shall kneel before your master."_ The blast completely eliminated any trace of Lara Croft remaining on the earth, as the robot darted away from the scene, his work done.

Kratos split ways with Nariko. She went running off for Bohan, and he honestly couldn't care less. He was just searching for another lead on that creature with metallic fur. Then he came across a group of humans and a dragon running from something. Perhaps that was where the creature had gone. Kratos caught up to the running humans in seconds and kept pace quite comfortably. "What are you running from?" Kratos asked the Dragon. "There's a crazy red haired lady that wants us all dead at the King's castle!" He explained. Kratos nodded in understanding. "I will follow you. I have unfinished business with this woman myself."

"What might I ask brings you here? Such a place is most inhospitable to mortals like you" Anne Bonny noted Kratos' almost condescending tone. "Well, we thought we could do trade here" She lied, not wanting to say that they were pirates "But the tyrant in charge wanted us executed for trying to sell goods which were illegal here. We didn't even know they were illegal!" Anne explained. Kratos didn't respond. He felt that was a lie, but wasn't interested in kicking up a storm and so decided to just go along.

* * *

"A hedgehog?" Bohan scratched his head in confusion. "All this time, I was outsmarted by a hedgehog?" Sigma, Izanagi and Dr. Nefarious were all confused too, having just seen this guy, who for two months they had been trying to figure out the identity of, reveal himself unintentionally to be a hedgehog. "We should tell the others about this" Izanagi suggested. Then the door came crashing down. "You'll do nothing of the sort!" Metal Sonic boomed as he walked towards Bohan, finally unmasked. "Having to reveal my identity was unfortunate, but get this. It never happened. Got it?" "Hey now, this is no time for fighting" Sigma warned. Metal Sonic didn't let go of Bohan. Izanagi tried to strike Metal, but was shot down by Metal, with one arm. Sigma evaluated his options before sighing in defeat. "Fine. It never happened." Sigma went along with Metal. "Very good." Metal took Bohan's camera and crushed it. "You idiot!" Bohan screamed. "We'll never be able to track them now!" Metal said nothing and walked out. "Let's go back to Polygon and reorganize. No point in heading into battle now."

Bohan was fuming, and the other 3 had a new found fear of Metal, seeing a dangerous, self serving side to him, that could pounce at a seconds notice.

"So. This is the castle of King Bohan." Edward stopped at the marvelous castle. "Wha'll we do sir?" One of the crew members asked. "We'll just invite ourselves in." Sora suggested, slicing the door open with the keyblade. There was no one there. Not a soul. It felt like there had never been anyone there. "Stay on your toes." Spyro advised. "He could be planning an ambush." The Traveller sang a note. Only reverberations were heard. "Seems like we came a bit too late. Maybe something got them?" Anne suggested. "No. There'd be signs. But if they were running from something..." There was a soft thud. "Move. Move Now!" Edward yelled. "What?" Asked a confused Anne. "Everyone out, or we'll be mince meat!" As if on cue, Nariko burst through the door, rage filled. "Where is he?!" She demanded. "Who?" Edward asked. "Bohan!" Sora cut in. "We were looking for him ourselves, but he seems to have gone-"

"WHERE?!" Sora took a step back. "We..." He was afraid to finish that sentence. "We don't know. If we did, d'ya think we'd be here?" Spyro answered. Nariko's grip on the Heavenly sword tightened. "I don't believe you." She said. "And I'm going to get an answer from you, one way or another." Edward motioned for the crew to be moved by Anne. "Alright men, on my lead!" Anne signalled as the rest rushed out. The Traveller followed. Spyro and Sora stayed behind. "You two go on ahead with them. Make sure they don't run into trouble." Edward ordered. "Are you sure?" Sora asked. "You may be in over your head on this one." Edward smiled. "No. I've got this under control." Sora and Spyro left leaving Edward and Nariko facing each other at the end of a long corridor. "Look. I don't know what your business is with this tyrant, but we are not affiliated with him!" Edward tried to reason. Nariko launched the Heavenly Sword in response. Edward hid behind a stone pillar, which collapsed from the blow of the sword. "Are you mad?!" He asked "You'll get us killed!"

"All the better if I manage to destroy this foul place" Nariko took aim and fired. A wall between her and Edward came down stunning Nariko. Edward saw an opening. Because the wall had fallen, the wall above it came down as well, opening up a way into a room containing some futuristic looking tech.

Not wasting a moment, Edward began to climb up the rubble, grabbing onto whatever remained of the floor. He hoisted himself up, and looked around. It was a fine room, with chairs positioned in front of an explosion in the wall. Other than that, there were guns there. But not like any gun Edward had seen. There was no place for the gunpowder to go, strangely. There were other weapons there, but none looked less complex, so when he heard Nariko climbing up to his level, he fired the gun. A loud, ratatatatatatata followed, and Nariko even fell backwards. Edward looked at the gun. "Not bad" He muttered.

Then he heard Nariko climbing up slowly and shakily, hit by five bullets in and around the shoulders. She was obviously in great pain, but Nariko was a strong woman. She took out her cannon and fired. Because she couldn't hold it right, the ball was slightly away from hitting Edward. He smiled and pulled the trigger again, only to hear a clicking sound. Edward froze. He didn't know how to reload the gun and here he was, facing certain death. Nariko threw the Heavenly sword at him, once again, falling short due to the pain, but still ripping up the floor and hitting Edward in the gut, knocking him through a fireplace. That hurt, but luckily the fire was out. Edward began to pick bricks off his body, until he came across a smooth object. It was covered in soot, so impossible to tell what it was, until Edward blew it off. A red emerald. Nariko stood over him, weakly, but much better off than he was. She too held one of the firearms in her hand, ready to kill Edward.

Edward closed his eyes and prepared for death, wishing there was someway out of this. Even only a centimetre away would have been enough. As if by magic, his prayers were answered. Edward found himself standing behind Nariko who had fired. A piece of firewood exploded into splinters.

Nariko turned and was stunned. "What sorcery is that?!" She demanded, firing the Heavenly Sword again. Edward again held up the emerald. Other side again. Nariko grew frustrated. "I must take this emerald. This may be the answer to where Bohan is hiding!" Nariko lunged at Edward, who held up the emerald once again, trying to teleport away again, but not before Nariko latched on and took herself with him.

* * *

"They all seem to have gone." Spyro announced upon his return from searching the coast for Bohan's army. They, like Bohan himself had completely vanished. "But what about that pirate guy?" Sora asked. "Surely he can't be-" But before Sora could say it, Edward appeared along with Nariko sprawled out on the beach. Kratos managed to break up the fighting. "I am as much their ally as I am yours. I don't have them. But when there is a common threat, we should all unite to fend it off." Kratos tried to reason with Nariko, who reluctantly agreed. The two shook hands, and that was that. "Now. I think we should get back to the Americas. We've got enough eyes on us over here." Edward ordered. But before the ship could set sail, it took flight. A sky blue energy covered the ship and lifted it up towards some alien mothership. "Is this an abduction?" Anne questioned. "Let's hope not." Edwarda answered as the ship entered the floating fortress. They then got off the ship, down a flight of stairs, leaving the ship in a small body of water big enough to accommodate the Jackdaw. There was an open doorway which the proceeded down, never once letting their guard down until they came to a large room. There was a group of people involved in a discussion. One of them, a short haired blond in a letterman jacket asked them, "Did you guys just get here?" They nodded. Take the first door on the right, then take the second on the left, up the stairs, and into the place with the P and S in front of it.

"You sure we can trust this guy?" Sora asked. "Well, what else can we do?" Edward countered. "It's not like we could take the place by siege anyway." Shortly, they arrived. They went in to see a set of short steps leading up to a conference table with about 80 seats. Behind that was a man, coloured blue, including his clothes, who looked like he wasn't really there. He turned to them when he heard them coming in. "Ah, welcome all of you!" He smiled. "You were expecting us?" Nariko drew the Heavenly Sword. "Well, yes. But please, keep your sword sheathed and perhaps we can talk." He suggested. "I am Kenneth Kutaragi. And I am here to talk about the Playstation All-Stars."

 _ **Author's Note**_

Hello All! Been a while since I uploaded last. Sorry about all the delay, I've just been caught up doing some other stuff on Youtube and other things. I hope to try to get back to writing as I am taking a break from the whole Youtube thing. Anyway, what else can I say? It's good to be back.


	21. Columbia Conundrum

"Come on Mr. B, I know the ADAM is up here somewhere" The Big Daddy shook its head. "No! I'm not going back down there!" The Little Sister pouted. Big Daddy moaned. But Little Sister wasn't listening. She tore up the stairs of the lighthouse. Big Daddy chased after her as fast as he could, which, when made out of heavy metal wasn't very fast. "In here". The Little Sister climbed into the pod. "Okay Mr. B-" SLAM! The Pod door slammed shut. "Mr. B?!" Little Sister started to panic. "What's going on?! Help!". Big Daddy ran off to her cries, arriving to slam his drill arm repeatedly into the pod, with no effect. The Pod took off. Big Daddy roared in defeat.

The pod finally stopped, albeit a few hundred feet in the air, but it had stopped, and Little Sister was all too happy to get out. She seemed to be at a shrine of sorts, with people in white robes praying. She stepped out. There wasn't any ADAM here, but there wasn't any way out either. She walked around, the water feeling nice on her feet. Her feet were her shade of pale, but with much less dirt on them. The people there didn't pay any attention to her, instead remaining absorbed in prayer. She walked around, looking for a way out. She tried to tell one of the people she was lost, but they didn't seem to care. "I've gotta find Mr. B. But I don't think there's any way down." She sighed. She walked through a church, getting increasingly worried. "Excuse me." A voice asked. "Can I help you little girl?" Little Sister turned to the man. He was wearing dirty and torn clothes, and had greying hair, including his beard. "I'm lost." She explained. "Where are your parents?" The man asked. "I don't have any." Little Sister responded. "Oh. Well then. Who usually looks after you?" He asked again. "Mr. B." Little Sister explained. "And where might he be?" Joel asked. "He's down there." Little Sister pointed down. "Ah. Well then. We'll just have to find a way down then. Come on."

Joel did his best to ignore the yellow eyes and decaying skin, although no one else was willing to do that much. Most simply pretended they weren't looking despite the obvious looks of disgust on their faces. Many people moved out of his way, with some voicing their disgust. "The people here aren't very nice mister." Little Sister muttered, drawing closer to Joel. "I know. But we'll be gone soon." Joel reassured her.

"Oh good heavens!" One person shouted. "Where on earth did _that_ come from?". Joel turned to see what "that" was. It was a guy in a diving suit with red eyes and a drill for an arm rampaging through the floating city. "Mr. B!" Little Sister ran over to the hulking brute. "Hey! Get back here kid! That ain't safe!" Joel yelled after her. But much to his surprise, it stopped everything when it saw her, and it's eyes turned green. He embraced the child and walked over to Joel. Joel held his nerve and looked "Mr. B". It made a noise and then walked off. But it wasn't that simple. The police opened fire on him and he retaliated. His drill arm whirred into life, and he ran after the police officers. Joel ran for cover, as did the police when they realized how little effect the bullets had. "It's okay, Mr. B. They're gone now. They won't hurt us now."

No sooner than she had said that, the diving suit was hit with a force that sent him to the other side of town. In his place stood a thing no more than 3 feet tall, with thin arms with ridiculously disproportionate clawed hands and a wolf's face. Not to mention how cartoonish he looked, like he was coloured in using crayons. Joel pulled out a gun. "Don't move!" He yelled. The creature blinked. "Really?" He deadpanned. "A gun?" Joel didn't respond. "I have claws for hands, can move through the air, and you're thr-" Joel fired. "Aww what the hell?!" the creature whined. "You lousy ass!"

"Didn't you tell me not 5 seconds ago that guns weren't a threat to you?" Joel reminded him. "Yeah, when people don't use dirty tactics!" He retorted. "Aw man, why didn't Calypso tell me I wasn't immune to bullets?" He asked himself. "Wait" Joel muttered to himself. "Who?" But before he could ask, he noticed that the creature had been sliced in half. "What the..."Joel looked to his left. There was the assassin. A robot was kneeling down with his sword drawn, but there was no blood on it. The cartoon character had disappeared as well, leaving Joel very confused. "Hey! Who the hell are you?!" He demanded.

The robot turned around to reveal a human face with a robotic body. "What did you do that for?!" Joel protested. "I could have learned somethin' from him!"

"I have higher priorities. They're a threat to public safety." The robot responded. Joel was about to make a smart remark, but decided against it. "Raiden." He said his name. "Joel" Joel replied. "Alright...Joel. Well, I don't know. You probably don't know this place any better than I do."

"Ain't no probably about it." Joel assured him. "But I think we should stick together. You seem like an honest man." Joel ignored Raiden. Then a monkey jumped onto Raiden's head, screeching wildly. It would soon regret that, as Raiden easily pried it off, and proceeded to chop into as many pieces as physically possible. "Don't you think that was a tad too much?" Joel asked. "Not really." Raiden answered.

Then a young boy came rushing towards them. He had spiky blond hair and wore a red and white jacket. He also sported jeans and had what looked like lightsabers on his back. He had a net in his hands, and was obviously looking for the monkey Raiden had cut into pieces. He cut it so fast, it didn't even spill blood. All the pieces just blew away in the wind. "I'm searching for a monkey, and I think it came this way. Did you by any chance see it?" The boy asked. "Erm, no. Why?" Raiden asked. The boy looked disappointed. "Those monkeys are trying to take over the world!" He informed them. I've gotta get them all so they can't cause harm. Raiden was skeptical. That story certainly seemed far fetched, but it was better than "He's my pet, and I'm worried he's gone missing!". "And is that why you're here?" Joel asked. "No." Spike answered. "I just woke up here. I was chasing monkeys in Tokyo, and all of a sudden, this alien comes out of nowhere and starts throwing cars at me. I panicked and ran, until I saw this blue portal thing, and so I jumped into it, and well, here I am."

The blue portal triggered interest. "A blue portal. Like one that just hung in the air on its own?" Spike nodded. "I'm Spike, by the way."

* * *

Isaac Clarke fired his plasma cutter at the wizard. "Ohhhhh" He groaned. "Where did Kutaragi get you from?" He asked. Zarok had really underestimated Isaac Clarke. Thinking he was going in for an easy kill, because Calypso told him so. What Calypso hadn't told him, was that Isaac was able to rebound Zarok's spells with his powerful kinesis and was able to fight with his own powerful attacks. Isaac got ready to fire. He shot at Zarok, merely wounding the already fallen wizard. He needed to go for the head. He was about to shoot, until a man appeared before him and shoved him off Zarok. Isaac knew he had to shoot. But he couldn't. Why? He didn't know. There was nothing physically stopping him from raising the plasma cutter in his hands to this man's head and blowing his brains out. But something intrigued Isaac about this man. He wanted to know more.

The man noticed this. "Are you going to finish him off? I really don't have the time to await a decision." "Huh?" Isaac was confused. "I beg your pardon. William Calypso is the name."

Isaac went to introduce himself. "It's alright Mr. Clarke. I'm fully aware of who you are." Isaac was shocked. "But how-"

"It's not important. But listen. I'm here to inform you about some dangerous individuals around here. A robot man wielding a sword. A big creature in a diving suit. An old man with a rusty pipe. Causing havoc. Their leaders, people in large warships that travel through the air will be here soon."

Isaac still didn't understand. "Wait, why are you telling me this, and secondly, how can I trust you? No offence, but you don't look like the kind of person who I'd wanna meet in a dark alley...or have a conversation with in broad daylight. Isaac raised the plasma cutter. "What about him?" He asked, pointing to Zarok. "Is he on your side?" Calypso almost forgot about Zarok crawling away behind him. "Ah." He turned to Zarok. "This...ruffian has been causing us trouble for quite some time." Zarok froze at hearing this. "Then why'd you stop me from making sure he doesn't cause anymore trouble?" Isaac asked. "I did?" Calypso seemed apologetic. "Oh, I'm sorry, please go ahead." Zarok turned to Calypso. "Wait, what are you doing?!" Zarok demanded. "Something that should have been done a long time ago!" Calypso felt a crooked smile form. It all happened in the blink of an eye. A shot was fired, but it hit Calypso, not Zarok. It hurt. Isaac Clarke stood pointing the palm of his hand at Calypso, Zarok steadily getting to his feet. But Calypso's attention turned to Isaac. Calypso's smile had turned to an uncharacteristic scowl, and it wasn't because his favourite grey suit had been ruined by a plasma blast (no blood), but rather because he knew that Isaac Clarke didn't fire the shot. "What was that?!" He demanded. "I should ask you the same question!" "Isaac" retaliated. "But I won't because I already know the answer! Jesus Christ Calypso, I'm sick of this shit with you! If it weren't for that crystal pre-school project in charge of this whole thing then I'd have you shot!"

"Why?" He asked, dryly. "You know exactly why!" Metal shot back. "Goddammit Calypso, if I ever find out why you want everyone on your side dead..."

"Why I want them dead?" Calypso repeated, seemingly hurt by such wild accusations. "Well, I never knew you thought about it that way. I was merely creating a distraction. Attempting to befriend Isaac. That would have made him much easier to deal with. But I understand. One could easily make that assumption."

With that, Calypso walked off, leaving Zarok and Metal Sonic all alone. Metal was frustrated. He knew Calypso was lying, hell, even Hillary Clinton would have called him out on it. But he didn't know what the truth was, and until he figured it out, there was no way he was ever going to stop Calypso.

The very idea of it made blood he didn't have boil. In frustration, he fired a shot out of his right hand. "Hey! What's the big idea?!" A deep voice demanded. Metal turned and saw a small creature, seemingly made out of rocks. He had a glowing rock in the centre of his chest, seemingly what gave him sentience. He was tiny though. His voice could not be more misleading.

"A Golem." Zarok got to his feet. "No." Metal said in his usual cold tone. "Knack." Zarok looked confused. "My scanners." Metal explained. "An All-Star, in fact."

Zarok jumped. "An All-Star?! We must get rid of him immediately, if that is the case!" Zarok fired a ball of fire from his staff. Knack jumped out of the way, just as the fireball crashed into the multi-story house behind him. "You shouldn't have done that." Metal kept his glare fixated on the pile of rubble the building had been reduced to. "I didn't know we payed for collateral damage caused." Zarok remarked. "That's not what I'm worried about." He replied, pointing to the bricks, which were one by one, making their way towards Knack.

* * *

Isaac Clarke was looking for these "Dangerous individuals " Calypso was talking about. Not that he believed they were dangerous, but he was just rather curious. Naturally, he couldn't place any trust in Calypso, but that didn't mean it was safe to trust his enemies just as quick. "Come now, what on earth are you doing here?!" An angry voice demanded. "You've got no business up here. You belong below the sea!" A policeman scolded.

Isaac had to take a good look at who-or what he was scolding. Two horrific humanoid creatures, completely black and white, one skinny and short, the other fat and tall. The fat one seemed docile, unaware of the trouble he was in, while the little one stared scornfully at the policeman, waiting for the next move he was going to make. "Hey! You!" The policeman yelled at Isaac. "Hands Up!" He took out a pistol, to which Isaac raised his hands. He didn't want any trouble. "What's the matter?" He asked the officer. The policeman was stunned. This one could talk. "My word" He muttered. "You speak." Was all he said. "Erm, yes." Isaac was confused. "Well, anyway, I'm sending you back down along with those two." He gestured to the other two figures.

"What? I don't understand. What's "down there?"

The policeman gave him a dirty look. "You're going back down there. That's that." Isaac lowered his hands to protest, prompting a reaction from the policeman. He fired his gun, through Isaac's torso, and his weakened armour. Isaac winced in pain.

"Now, if there's going to be-AAAAAH!" The policeman was tackled off his feet, sending the gun flying out of his hands. Another man had the policeman pinned down, but there was something odd about this man. He had sickly pale skin, and glazed eyes. He was covered in blood, not all of it dried, and had an ear missing. He made mad howling noises, swinging at the policeman who was trying to get up. The other two creatures were just as shocked, when this abomination buried his teeth into the policeman's neck, drowning out his pleas for help. Isaac, ignored the pain from the bullet, looked at the duo, and they all bolted. Isaac scooped up the policeman's pistol on the way, which had fifteen shots, out of a max of sixteen. He had his plasma cutter too, but he only had twenty shots in that, and didn't want to go up close and personal with these things. Zombies.

Isaac was in a bad situation already. He had travelled through narrow alleyways, surrounded by tall buildings either side. The pain from his upper torso meant it was going to be difficult to shoot, and by the looks of things, he would have to. That first shot had probably attracted enough attention. But where was he going to go? Away from here, that was for sure. Fortune didn't favour him though.

He saw an opening onto a street, where there were police providing stiff resistance for the zombies. There were a lot of zombies, but the police had a gatling gun, which mowed them down. Isaac attempted to run onto the street before he noticed a zombie lock its sights on him. Isaac opted for the pistol, and struck the creatures head, sending it crumpling to the ground. But that was a big mistake. More of them began to pay attention to where the new shots were coming from, and upon realisation, began to chase their prey back into the alleys. They weren't ridiculously fast, but they made you work to stay alive alright. The other two were surprisingly fast, keeping pace with Isaac. The wound was still bleeding, but at this point, bleeding was the least of his worries. They came across a sharp left turn, barely making it through without smashing through the walls.

Then there was a restaurant. One fat zombie came out, obviously not satisfied with the eatery's menu. Isaac gave him a lead sandwich and kept running, jumping over the corpse. The corpse was actually so big, many of the zombies were tripping over it, creating a blockade. It bought some time, but maybe not enough. Isaac couldn't take it anymore. That shot drained a lot of blood from him. The colour in his vision was going, and so was his hearing. Before he noticed anything else, he blacked out.

Lil & Laarg were shocked. But there wasn't much time. Those undead were starting to sort themselves out, so they needed to move quickly. Laarg threw Isaac over his shoulder, and the two kept running. But there was one problem. A brick wall up ahead. Lil panicked, knowing that this could be the end. But Laarg wasn't so sure. He tossed Isaac into Lil's arms, who, in turn, nearly collapsed under Isaac's weight. Then, for once, Laarg used his head...as a battering ram for breaking the wall. In one swift and graceful dive, bricks came flying inside the building. He kicked down some bricks he had missed before ushering Lil inside. A hotel lobby. Many fine floors were overhead, but there were no stairs. No elevator either. Crap. How would they be safe now? Lil looked towards the hole in the wall to see Laarg gently place each individual brick back in place. Then loud roaring was heard. The zombies were close, and Laarg realised that. He stopped putting the bricks down, picked up Isaac and stared into the horde. Lil felt the same way. Then there was a gust of wind behind them, brushing off their ankles. The two turned around. A tile of sorts. It had a glowing smiling purple face on it.

Lil realised this was their only chance to get to safety. How? He didn't know, but he was desperate. The tile launched him into the air, and over the balcony, onto the second floor. Laarg quickly followed suit, and ended up next to his partner. There was a loud thud as Laarg landed. But everything held strong. The two finally felt safe. But who had saved them?

Then they saw it. A burlap sack doll. He stood no more than a few inches tall, but didn't seem the least bit fazed by anything happening around him. He simply waved at them, and gave them a huge smile. He then gestured towards a princess. A grossly inflated one at that! She was gorging herself on some cake, which couldn't be heard over the zombies below, who couldn't figure out how to get up. She finished the cake that she had, then ordered her guards to standby. Those guards were about as tall as the doll, with the princess being slightly taller, but still quite a bit shorter than Lil. She examined them before nodding. "Cake, please!" she ordered, before the doll produced a large slice. The two were stunned. What had just happened? Did the doll really just pull that cake out of nowhere?

They pondered for a while, before something hit Laarg. Isaac! He placed Isaac on the floor, and then got the attention of the guards. Fortunately, there was a doctor, similar physically to the guards, who was able to stop the bleeding. There wasn't any talking, but it was still loud, due to the zombies below. Isaac eventually started to come around, but he wasn't really offered much explanation as to where he was or how he got there. He still had his weapons, and was thankful to be alive. Then there were tremors. Lil turned around to Laarg, who looked just as confused. The hotel remained completely intact. The tremors stopped. Then they came back, more powerful. They kept going, even through the side of the hotel. The wall on the far side of the hall crashed down, as everything threatened to go with it.

* * *

Metal looked down at Knack, buried in ruins of more buildings, but this time, too damaged to fight back. For now. Metal went back to Zarok, who was halfway across the city, orchestrating his undead army. "We should leave now." He suggested to Zarok. "But we haven't gotten a single All-Star killed." Zarok argued. "Not important right now." Metal countered. "Your undead should kill off at least one if left alone."

"And what if it fails?" Zarok demanded. "Well then, you'll get a few more chances, at least." Zarok considered. "Not until at least one of them is down."

Metal didn't argue. "Very well. We'll leave whenever you're ready." He flew off, in search of the All Stars. As far as he was concerned, Zarok probably wouldn't be around before he decided to retreat. But oh well. It wasn't like Metal was losing sleep over Zarok being in any danger. He landed amongst the undead, who were finishing off the last humans still left. Knack was on the lookout for Metal, with his massive footsteps being heard pretty much everywhere in the city. Metal was surprised the whole thing didn't collapse. He walked through the now ravaged streets, looking for at least one All Star to kill, to satisfy Zarok. He searched and searched, but still no luck. Knack still hadn't found him, and kept most of the buildings intact, but Metal wasn't going after Knack. Too much effort. He kept thinking, and thinking hard. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts, that he didn't even notice as he plummeted off the edge of the city. He saved himself and flew back up, but that sparked a few ideas in his head. "Maybe it isn't impossible to get to him after all. I might go for the whole hog."

Then he heard unintelligible gibberish. A rabbit ran towards him, or rather, away from something. Metal was annoyed by it, and so obliterated any trace of it from the earth. Then the pursuer reached him. It was a humanoid creature, with a red neckerchief and purple shirt. He had white gloves, and strangest of all, no arms or legs, and yet he obviously had hands and feet which he controlled. Metal scanned him. Rayman. A Playstation All Star. Rayman did nothing but give him an awkward thumbs up, sort of a thanks for his pest control. Metal flew away.

Rayman was understandably confused, but he continued on his way, not sure how he got here, or how he was going to get home. But that wasn't important right now. He walked through streets which he noticed were awfully bloody. That giant...thing wandering through the streets might have been the cause of it all. Rayman decided to confront it, running all the way over to the other side of the city, looking for a way to grab the beast's attention. Then someone fired a shot at it.

"That didn't work!" Joel yelled over the monstrous footsteps of Knack. "What next?!" Big Daddy came charging in out of nowhere, charging for Knack, despite the odds. Knack had probably killed that girl he looked after so well. He joined her. One step forward was enough. Joel and Raiden turned to run, while Knack gave chase. They ran until they met another cast of colourful characters. A Fat Princess, a spaceman, two Tim Burton characters, a burlap sack, everything. Joel, Raiden and Spike didn't let their guards down, keeping weapons trained on the group. "Can we talk?" The spaceman spoke up. "I'm Isaac Clarke. I'm not sure who most of these people are, but you've got no reason to shoot." He explained. "Why should I trust you?" Raiden demanded. "Because if you don't, look, there's this guy, William Calypso-"

"Wait!" Joel stopped him. "I've heard of him. Tell us what you know." Isaac continued. "I don't know much. But he is creepy. He's got allies too. Someone who looked like me, and an old wizard. They talked about having more members, but they seemed like-" Thuds drawing closer interrupted the conversation. "Shit."

Knack kept drawing closer, until a dot from nowhere picked him up by the chest and lifted him far into the air. "What's going on?!" Raiden demanded. "It looks like he's going to drop him in the ocean" Isaac answered. Then something hit Isaac. "Oh shit. We have to get off this city right now! That guy, he's gonna kill us!"

Raiden looked confused, before the same reality dawned on him too. The whole group was drawn into a frenzy. Sackboy, on the other hand, kept his composure. He took out his PopIt, and got out the one thing he new would help.

Then the idea became a reality. Knack was shot down at breakneck speed beyond the city, close to burning temperatures, and into the ocean some short distance away. But as physics say, every force it met with an equal and opposite force.

A tsunami. Through the clouds, a wave which would easily engulf the city shot up. That was what happened. Everyone in the city, wiped out. The city came crashing down through the ocean, another tsunami. But the group remained safe above the clouds, on a hot air balloon Sackboy had created. A fairly big hot air balloon. Joel, Raiden, Spike and Rayman were pretty stunned. But there was little time for questions, as approaching them was an airship, which dwarfed the hot air balloon. Once it reached a certain distance, a woman flew out to the balloon from the ship. "

You can land your balloon on the landing deck!" She told them before flying back. This was a weird day for Joel.

The balloon was landed, and then Sackboy made it disappear as quickly as it had appeared. "Over this way." A soldier pointed. "You'll be able to get to the lower decks through there."

That was what they did. They stuck together, as another soldier guided them to what was called G deck. "This deck is where your quarters are." He informed them. "They are DNA sensitive, and so only you may open your own quarters." Raiden wandered around the halls for a while, before finding his quarters which were labeled helpfully. "Okay." He looked around at some of the other names, which seemed to be randomly placed. There was no order the names were in, meaning he saw a lot of names. Sir D. Fortesque, R. Keys, S. Snake- Wait, what?! Snake was here?! Speak of the devil, he came walking down the hallway, when he saw Raiden.

"Snake?" "Raiden?"

* * *

Joel wandered through the different decks for a while. B deck seemed to be the most lively. There were plenty of colorful characters, some quite cheerful, others not so much. But he came to a quiet spot on the deck. There was a TV which was turned off, with two couches in front of it. But on one of them, there was a teenage girl reading a comic. Joel recognised her just from her auburn hair.

"Ellie?"

Ellie recognised that voice. She got up, and left. Joel sighed. She still wasn't over it. He was beginning if she ever would be.

 ** _Author's Note_**

Hello all! I know I've been away for a while now, but I'm back now at least. I actually write notes on what the plot for this is going to be, and usually that changes a lot. One day, I lost 'em and so I had to write new ones. So I'm hoping to start writing more chapters soon.

Once again, thanks for reading!


	22. Just like Friends Pt2

Danner walked down the halls of the airship, minding his own business, when that kid he saw at the vending machine walked by. She seemed to be in a foul mood. "Ellie!" A man ran by, looking to catch up with her. Danner, confused, decided to follow. "BlackJack, camouflage" BlackJack complied. Danner began to blend in with his surroundings. Finally, the man caught up to her. "Joel, just fuck off!" Ellie snapped. "Please, I know what I did was wrong, just give me another chance!" Ellie stormed off. "God dammit!" Joel gritted his teeth and slammed his fist against the nearest wall. There was no mark on the wall, but Joel wore a sickened look. However, it wasn't because he had hurt his hand or anything precious like that, but because of her.

Even Danner could sense it. That girl meant the world to him. He knew how that felt...

"Is everything alright?" BlackJack asked. Danner had gone off in search of answers. "I don't know. Probably not." Danner answered. "I'm going to talk to her."

"I'm not so sure about that." BlackJack advised. "Maybe this is a question best left unanswered." Danner thought about it. "I guess it's worth a shot, right?"

BlackJack shrugged. "I guess so."

* * *

"Long time no see!" Snake called out. Raiden turned. "Snake?" He smiled. "How are you?"

"Not Great" Snake answered. "But boy it's great to see someone I know on this ship." Raiden agreed. "Sure is, but it would be great to know why we're here." Snake stopped smiling. "Actually, I can fill you in on that. Big Boss is on board. No idea where, but he's in on the whole operation. He's dragged in FOXHOUND to be an ally to this guy Kutaragi who's trying to stop some untold evil bullshit from taking over the world. I don't buy into it."

"Then what do you buy into?" Raiden asked. "Well, I guess it's a pretty rich guy who wants a favor. I can't be sure." Raiden shook his head. "I'm not so sure about that. I've seen so much weird shit, it can't be for money." Snake shrugged. "Well, your guess is as good as mine as to why he's here, but that guy isn't doing a good job of winning my trust by hiring guys like Big Boss." Raiden agreed again. "Maybe so, but what choice do we have? You and I both know there's a bigger threat out there, and if we have to work together to get rid of it, then so be it."

"The enemy of our enemy isn't always our friend though. Remember that." Snake walked off, leaving Raiden to his thoughts.

* * *

Kat was back again today. Delsin opened the door, not expecting any visitors. The white t-shirt he wore was now a multi coloured shirt decorated with food stains. The place he had was dimly lit, with most light coming from the tv, which showed an action tv series of some form. He still had his beanie on though, Christ knows what would happen if he ever misplaced his favourite beanie. He'd probably level the nearest city to the ground. But still, he kept it fairly tidy. It was a nice, cozy place, opening up to a view of the whole thing. A small kitchen to the left, a bathroom to the right, the kitchen connected with what could be called his living room. But he seemed to be watching tv from his bed, further back from the living area, slightly elevated. The whole place had a modern feel to it, but Delsin still kept these Native American things around his place, scattered around. Perhaps a reminder of his culture.

"I guess you're here to listen to the rest of the story." Delsin spoke.

"Um, yes. I hope you don't mind..."

Delsin raised an eyebrow. This girl was interested in his story? But then again, what else was he planning on doing? He didn't like to talk about it, but it was better than just keeping bottled up all the time about it, wasn't it?

"Alright. Have a seat." He gestured to the couch and muted his tv. The two sat down. "So where was I?"

"You woke up after that man with smoke powers incapacitated you." Kat reminded him. "Oh yeah."

* * *

Delsin took a step forward. Without warning, he shot forward about five feet, before screeching to a halt. He was, naturally, shocked. "What the hell was that?!" He panicked. He took another step forward, being careful not to ram into the upturned car in front of him. Instead, he shot through it, without damaging the car or himself. "What the hell is happening to me?!" Then it hit him. "Oh God no..."

More steps forward had the same results. "Stop it, stop it!" Delsin gritted his teeth trying to control his newfound powers. He managed to stop before he fell over the edge of the cliff. Delsin was in full blown panic mode by now. He turned back towards the road leading to the fish guttery, stopping before a tree. "Make it stop!" He demanded in vain. "Hey, Hey!" Reggie was yelling at someone over by the guttery, although Delsin couldn't see him. "Reg?!" He called out. "Reg, I really need you!" Delsin finally regained the ability to walk and run in a normal fashion, but he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to care. A burning tree fell to the ground, and so he used his powers to dash through it. He was starting to gain control.

"Get on the ground!" Reggie yelled. "You gotta listen to me-" That voice! It was the same guy that gave Delsin his powers. Maybe he could undo them. "On the ground!" Reggie demanded. Delsin finally saw the two. Just as the other guy used his powers to throw a car at Reggie. "No!" Delsin yelled, rushing to get to his brother. A tree separated the two. Delsin used his powers again, putting them on full display for Reggie, who was equally as shocked as Delsin about his powers. "Delsin. What the hell was that?" He asked, concerned for his brother. Reggie's foot was caught underneath the car.

"I gotta get you out!" Delsin ran over to his brother's side. "Okay, just help me push." Delsin held the car, which just felt like a pile of bricks at this stage, and carefully lifted it. Then a rush of smoke to his arms. "Oh dear God!" Reggie ran back from the car as Delsin blasted it to the other side of the road. Reggie looked over at his brother who wouldn't get up. "I can't stop it man, I can't stop it, I just can't stop it." Reggie felt the same way. It was a pretty big and terrifying change, but his little brother needed consolation now more than ever. "It's okay, it's okay. Just breathe. Breathe." Reggie calmed him down. "I'm one of them man, I'm one of them." Delsin reminded him. Reggie ignored him. "No. You are my brother, and I promise you, we will fix this thing. Okay?" Delsin nodded. "Okay."

"Alright, he's headed towards the guttery, we've gotta stop him before he hurts the rest of the tribe." Delsin looked into the distance, seeing a crowd gather at the gates. "They need you." Delsin got to his feet. "Promise me you won't use any of those tricks, okay?"

"I wouldn't have been able to get to you without those tricks" Delsin reminded him. "Promise me you won't do that!" Reggie demanded. "Okay, okay." Delsin wasn't making any promises, and Reggie probably knew that too. But now wasn't the time for arguing like that. "I don't want you thinking that this is a good thing." Reggie went on. "Because it's not."

They arrived at the gates. "We can't get in, the button's jammed" One person explained. "I think Betty's still in there." Another told them. Reggie stood back and took a look at the gate. There were no dents in it, or no bars bent. "How the hell did he get through?" Reggie pondered. "He ran through." Delsin realised. "You can do that?"

Delsin demonstrated. The people then became uneasy. "Delsin's a Bio-Terrorist too?!" One woman asked panicking. "Wait!" Reggie tried to restore order as Delsin searched for ways to get in. There was no way he was getting through the doors, but the vents gave him an idea. If he could turn to smoke, maybe he could get through them? It worked as Delsin found himself on the roof. "Good to know" Delsin said to himself. He found another vent and went up through that. But he went much higher into the air than he anticipated. "Not good!" Delsin flapped his arms around wildly. He fell through a shattered skylight all the way down to the floor. It should've hurt.

Emphasis on "Should've". "Wow. That...should've hurt." Delsin was confused. But he kept going. There was a pile of burning wood blocking the door. Delsin tried to dash through it, but to no avail. He bounced back off it, almost scorched by the flames. He looked around for something to use. A chain rested on top of a few empty barrels he had fallen back on. He wrapped it around his wrist and swung it like a whip. His smoke powers gave it a nice touch as it broke the timbers into pieces, created a path for him to walk through. He could hear Betty, and that man. "I'm on my way Betty!" Delsin yelled, breaking a final few pieces, before busting the door open.

"You stay away from me!" Betty backed away. "I'm tryin' to help you lady!" But it was no use trying to reason with her. They then noticed Delsin. "I...I was just tryin' to create a diversion, I didn't know anyone was in here!" The man protested. Delsin held up his fist which was surrounded by smoke. "You did this to me!" The man was silent.

"You're a conduit?" He asked. Betty was shocked. "Betty, I'll explain later, but you've gotta get out of here now!" The man turned to run. "Not until you fix this!" Delsin used his smoke dash, tackling the man to the ground. Delsin then pinned him to the ground, before his vision started to go blurry. It was like the first time he got his powers.

He saw images, but this time, they were coherent, and had a voice narrating them. The man was cuffed in a prison cell. " _I spent most of my life behind bars. It's easy enough to bust out. You've just gotta wait for that golden opportunity._ " Delsin saw the man as he busted out of his prison cell with ease. Any guards that stood in his way, tried to apprehend him, or he just didn't like the look of. " _When, I got my powers, hell, I was unstoppable. That was, until the DUP caught up with me. They had a special place they liked to toss folks like me in._ " Then Delsin saw unspeakable horrors. " _They figured out a way to bind us up, so we couldn't use our powers._ " Delsin cringed at was he was seeing. " _That meat they had to feed us, wash us, and eve wipe our God damn asses. That ain't no way for a man to live._ " But the worst was yet to come. There was a woman in a room with the man who was tied to a table, at her mercy and the mercy of every drill, needle scalpel and every other potential murder weapon in the room. Delsin wanted to look away, but he couldn't. " _She called what she did to me tests. But if you do enough time, you learn a few tricks. You gotta be patient. Sooner or later, they screw up. They always do. You maybe see something, hear something, or learn something you wasn't supposed to know._ " Then Delsin saw another familiar sight. The convoy. " _When that bitch stuck the three of us in the back of that wagon, I knew what was coming._ "

" _A golden opportunity._ "

The man revealed a paper clip he had in his teeth. He used it to pick the lock on the binds that bound his arms. The guards weren't paying attention. Click. No one heard. Clang! That was enough to raise their interests. The guard looked through the grating into the back of the truck, as the man blasted off the binds on the other two's arms, before firing a blast of smoke at the watching guards. It killed them all, including the driver. Then, well, Delsin knew what happened next.

He woke up, got to his feet and looked over at the man. "I saw you." He said. "You were pokin' around inside my head." Delsin looked confused. "I thought that was you?" Then the man rushed over to him and helped him up. "You saw that prison right?! If she catches you, that's where you're headed!" He then took off.

Delsin gave chase, but was knocked back by a blast of smoke. The man approached him again. "I'm warnin' you kid, back off!" Delsin got up slowly. "Not until you fix this!" He ran after the man, but couldn't see him. "I'm tellin' ya kid, I don't know what happened, but you better be ready to disappear!" Delsin saw him and swung his chain. "Why?!" He demanded. "Cause you're a conduit now! A Bio-terrorist. Welcome to the world of runnin' for your life. That's what I aim to do, even if I gotta go through you!" Delsin wouldn't give up. "Not until you fix this!" He then came to the realization that it probably couldn't be fixed.

"Or, at least show me how to control it." The man dashed through a chain fence. "Ain't got time, DUP's comin', and this diversion's only gonna buy two-three minutes tops, so I gotta get goin'!" He rushed towards a fire exit. "I advise you to do the same, unless you wanna end up in Curden Cay!" Delsin shivered at the idea. "Yeah well, whoever's coming is coming for you, not me." He retorted. "You've been seen. She's got ways of makin' people talk." He dashed out of the fire exit. "Good luck kid."

Delsin ran towards the fire exit. "Aw hell, no way I'm gonna die in a fish guttery!" He opened the door, only to be met by a blinding light. There were soldiers and armoured cars, all of which had their guns trained on the man. "Listen, just let me go, nobody has to hear 'bout any of this." Part of Delsin wondered why he didn't just obliterate them with his powers. But as his eyes adjusted to the harsh light, he saw the concrete shrapnels which immobilized him. "I swear, no one ever has to know about this!" He was panicking as the shrapnels moved further up his body, until he was encased in a concrete cocoon. Then a woman walked up to it. "Oh Henry" She said. "I am so very disappointed with you." She added some venom to the last part. Delsin recognized this woman as the one from the memories 'Henry' had. She was tall and wore a blue overcoat, and some armour, and had short auburn hair. She was likely the leader of the soldiers, and the one responsible for locking up the Bio-te- no, conduit.

'Better tread lightly here. I don't wanna end up like Henry over there.' Delsin thought to himself. "Well" Delsin announced, clapping his hands. "We got him. Flushed out that mean old conduit for ya. Good job you guys, especially-" "Bio-Terrorist." The woman corrected Delsin, who froze. "Henry Daughtry was a Bio-Terrorist. Conduit is a word used by traitors and those who sympathize with their cause and, you're not a traitor...are you?" Delsin had to admit that the woman had a very intimidating demeanor, and he wasn't making things any better for himself.

"I, uh, I try not to be" He laughed nervously. "You seem nervous" She pointed out. 'Shit.' Delsin thought. 'It's okay. Just keep calm, and carry on.'

"No, I'm not nervous" He said, a little to quietly. The woman advanced towards him. "You know, in my experience, there are only two reasons for people to be nervous." She circled Delsin, making him more uneasy. "They are either cowards, or they have something to hide."

"Well, you know, I guess I get nervous around pretty girls" He cringed. What the fuck was that?! He was kicking himself. "You were in there with that Bio-terrorist for some time." The woman continued. "Did he share anything with you?" She asked, coming face to face with Delsin. "Um, share?" The woman rephrased. "Did he say anything to you? Any of his...ramblings about conspiracies" Delsin stood back. "Um, no. He didn't share anything with me." It technically was true, what Henry had said wasn't anything to do with conspiracy. It was all quite real. "That's good." She said. "You see, we are engaged in a life and death war with these Bio-terrorists, and it is my job to ensure that we win that war." She explained.

"But, it's kinda funny, cause, aren't you a Bio-terrorist too?" Delsin should've kept his mouth shut. He felt the ground beneath his right foot shudder. He moved his foot back as a small shrapnel shot up. The woman turned to face him. "Yes." She answered with a considerable lack of beating around the bush. She moved towards him again. "Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire, and it's clear to me now, that you're not a coward, which means that there's something you're not telling me." Delsin backed up as the soldiers advanced. "Wait what are you doing?! You can't do this, I have rights!" Delsin protested.

"And I have the legal authority to revoke those rights whenever I feel it's necessary, like now for instance." The woman answered. "I'll ask again, what happened in there?" Delsin looked at her. "I'll tell you again-" Delsin fell to his knees as a sharp pain came to them. He saw two concrete shrapnels in his knees. It hurt like hell, and it wouldn't budge even as Delsin tugged on it with all the strength he could muster. Th woman bent down beside him. "I'm told that hurts." She mocked him. Delsin felt more pain in his legs. He looked over to Betty, who was standing behind the soldiers. She had a pained look on her face, not from anything that bitch had done to her, but from just watching Delsin in agony. He was ashamed. "Maybe I know what happened in there!" She rushed towards Delsin, but was held back by the two soldiers. "No, Betty, don't!" Delsin warned her, as the woman smiled and stood up. "Really? Still nothing? Well, unless you have something to say to me, I'll have to have a chat with that nice old lady over there. But I'll have you know, concrete is especially hard on brittle bones, and if she doesn't talk, then I'll just keep" She taunted.

Delsin was faced with two options.

He could own up about what happened, admit he was a conduit, and save the tribe. But this also probably meant he was going away to that place Henry had described. Delsin would rather keep as much distance as possible between himself and that place.

Or, he could keep his mouth shut, keep himself safe, but also sacrifice the tribe.

He hadn't got much time. He needed to make a decision now.

"I'm a conduit." He said quietly. "What?" She asked. "I said, I'm a conduit." Delsin repeated, louder. "Alright? I caught it a second ago from that guy." The woman didn't seem pleased. "Oh, you caught it?! Very funny!" More shrapnels in his legs. He fell to the ground, losing consciousness. "Delsin!" Betty reached forward for him. "So Betty, is it?" The woman moved on to her. "Maybe you can give me a straight answer." All Delsin heard was more shrapnels, but not on him. Betty fell to the ground in pain. That was the last thing he saw before he blacked out.

Reggie was on the lookout for any sign of Delsin or that other guy emerging from the guttery. They had to be gone by now, most of it was burned of burning by this point. "Alright, I'm going to look for Delsin, tell everyone to stay here." Reggie ordered one of the tribespeople. He wasn't getting through the gate. But he still walked around the guttery for other exits. Unless Delsin had fallen into the sea, which Reggie hoped hadn't happened, knowing Delsin couldn't swim, there was only one other fire exit Delsin could've gotten out through. And the amount of noise coming from that direction was a good indicator that he at least tried. Then he saw who the noise was coming from. The DUP. Bad news. Reggie hoped that Delsin hadn't been caught. He started to sprint towards the sirens. The he saw a woman who looked like she was the commander of the DUP that were here.

"Hold it." Reggie flashed his badge, grabbing her attention. "What's going on here?"

"Just some escaped Bio-terrorists. Three of them. One has been apprehended outside the fish guttery, but two are still on the loose." Reggie was slightly alarmed at that, worrying Delsin was one, but he kept his mouth shut. "I'd like to see this Bio-Terrorist." The woman looked quizzically at him and asked "Why?"

"There's been a Bio-Terrorist causing trouble around here for the past week, and I want to see if it's him. I'm going to have to detain him if I see him."

The woman seemed suspicious. "It's my responsibility to detain Bio-Terrorists as head of the DUP."

Reggie had an answer lined up though.

"The DUP has been privatized as of three days ago. You no longer have that responsibility."

The woman stood there for a moment. "On one condition. I get to ask the tribes people questions about the incident."

Reggie weighed up his options. He hadn't much choice. He could gt to Delsin and then hide him from the DUP if he agreed, and so he did. "Fine."

The woman smiled. "Very well."

Reggie began running once the woman was out of sight. He arrived to find Delsin and Betty lying motionless on the floor.

Delsin looked the worse of the two, if only because of the concrete shrapnels protruding from his legs. But what if Betty had this too? Reggie pressed his hand against Betty's dress, only to pull it away after feeling the concrete. "Oh my God." Reggie thought. The pieces in his mind were coming together. They had been attacked, and their attacker was pulling away in an armoured jeep. He had to get them back to the longhouse.

* * *

Delsin stopped. "I-I don't feel well. I'll see you tomorrow" Kat wanted to know more, but guilt washed over her. She said nothing, knowing that whatever it was, it was tough to talk about what happened next. She was leaving, when Delsin called out. "Same time tomorrow?" His voice was still shaky. "I-er, are you sure. You seem upset about it, so-" Delsin shook his head. "No. Please. I insist. Same time tomorrow?" He asked again. Kat paused. Maybe it was best to come back. She really did want to know about his story as well.

"Okay." She answered. Delsin smiled. "Great. See ya tomorrow." Kat closed the door. But she couldn't bring herself to think about anything else. It felt like she had been talking with the most interesting person on earth. But she was hoping she could think about other things, at least for the time being.

Kat decided to explore the ship, gargantuan as it was. But it was an advantage. The man Kutaragi had told her that when he first got soldiers working on the airship they would be lost for days at a time. A slightly chilling, but interesting thought. She walked through corridors, many of them with thick sturdy windows for looking at the clouds. But interestingly, there were no clouds. Why? Well, Kat decided to go up to the landing deck to get a better view of the ship, only to find more of the same. The sky was dark and starry, with no clouds. But then she saw rocks floating in mid-air. There were stars, several tens of millions of miles away, but in plain sight. They were in space.

"We're supposed to be looking for other people." A man in a trench coat approached her. He had a well kept mustache and was heavily armed with plenty of strange guns. "Other people?" Kat asked.

"Apparently so. On another planet, one named Vekta." Then he realized he had not introduced himself. "You must forgive me for not introducing myself. My name is Galahad."

"I'm Kat." Kat introduced herself. "As in Katherine?" He asked. "Erm, no. Just Kat."

"I see. I am still not yet acquainted with the way of life in this era." Kat looked confused. She did expect to see some strange things on the ship, but it still surprised her anyway. "Oh?" She said, showing her surprise. "Yes, I still have yet to learn about much of history that has passed by in my absence, technological advancements that have been made, and of course the slang an other aspects of today's culture."

"I see. Well then, guess I should go back down now I know what's going on." Kat said to herself. "Come on Dusty" She called to her cat who was trying to scratch the airtight dome which encased the landing deck. He turned his attention to Kat when he heard her voice and followed her back down to the lower decks. "What a marvellous creature..." Galahad muttered to himself. "I too must get back to my studies."

He went down to his quarters to study a book which Kutaragi had left for him. It described in great detail all the major events which had occured over 130 years. The discovery of a new continent, the rise and fall of communism, going into space for the first time, and so many other events. Hours passed as Galahad opened boxes Kutargi left him with modern technology inside. It was amazing. Then there were Blu-Rays that he had to put inside a Blu-Ray Player which took a while. But he saw the events unfold using advanced video capturing technology which became increasingly advanced.

It all fascinated him. But, disappointingly, he still did not know the reason for everything that had happened to him. Why was he here?

* * *

Omega unloaded thousands of bullets into the dummy target. When the smoke cleared, there was no more dummy target, and so he was satisfied.

Eggman was not. "Do you have any idea how painstaking it is to make those?"

"I fail to see how it could be less fun to destroy them. They are fragile anyway."

"My SWATbots are a delicate work of art!" Eggman fumed. "Not for your target practice! Why did you even come on board the Egg Carrier?"

Eggman stormed off. Oh well. Back to the chaos emeralds. Shadow had done well to round up the amount he did. But there were still more out there, and if Metal got his hands on them, well, it wouldn't be pretty. Eggman shook that thought off, and thought about the possibility of finding one on Vekta instead. They would be arriving shortly too, so all the more reason to be optimistic.

"I'm not entirely sure if there's a chaos emerald here or not." Shadow informed him. Eggman didn't seem to care. We'll know if Metal is there or not. Where he goes, there's usually an emerald near by. "Alright, but don't tell any of them who he is."

Eggman seemed confused. "Why not? I think it would make things easier." Shadow shook his head. "He told me. He said that if word got out about who he really was he'd kill them all." Eggman laughed. "And you think he isn't trying already? He's not able to do anything like that."

"You of all people know he is!" Shadow snapped. "So did Sonic, Tails, Knuckles-" "Point taken." Eggman stopped laughing. "But I know we can stop him, if we just find the rest of the chaos emeralds." Eggman looked at the ones he already had. Five. Green, Yellow, Red, Light Blue and Dark Blue. He knew tremendous progress had been made to get that many, but he also knew it would be an almighty struggle to get the last two, especially since Metal had hidden one away. He never should have created that abomination. He cursed the very day he did so.

"Well, you know I don't like working with anyone, and I know the same is true for you. But who else but you, Omega and I can stop him? We need to work together on this."

Eggman held out his hand. Shadow took one look at it and then looked back to Eggman, with his usual icy stare. He shook it coldly.

But the important thing was, he shook it.

* * *

Danner walked off. "She did not tell anything, no?" BlackJack asked. "Not a single shred of information." Danner confirmed. "Maybe then it is best for you to not to go further with this. Is just family business or something, probably." Danner shook his head. "You're probably right, but still. You know..."

BlackJack didn't approve. "It isn't good to dwell on things. Anyway, They're bringing you back to Vekta. I suggest you prepare." Danner was taken aback. "So that's where we're going...shit." BlackJack smiled. "Perhaps I can be of assistance."

* * *

Jacket opened the door to his weapons cabinet. He beamed, seeing all his masks and unconventional weapons. It made up for those e-cigarettes he found earlier. He gathered up as many guns and masks as he could and stuffed them into a duffel bag, before arming himself with a few melee weapons. He took a look at himself in his cracked mirror, again a nice touch. He looked like a one man army, and felt like one too.

He walked out onto the landing deck as an earth-like planet came into view. The other All-Stars were out there too, although he was more heavily armed than most. "I hope we don't have to fight off the amount of guys you're expecting." Nathan joked. "You never know." Jacket responded. "I may come back having used everything in this bag, and you may not come back at all." The deck was silent. The group obviously barely knew each other and so no-one knew how to start a conversation that wouldn't end with someone losing a limb. It was a large group too, around 50 of them were there, and there was still more to come. "Attention All Stars!" Kutaragi's voice rang out. "We will be landing in Vekta in 5 minutes to recruit more All Stars. There may be threats present which you will need to take care of, but I trust in you to get the job done and know you are capable of the task at hand. I wish you the best of luck." The voice was gone.

All the All Stars looked around at each other as they prepared for their first mission together.

 _ **Author's Note**_

I punched a hole in my laptop...not smart. But I'm back now. It's good to get back to writing, and hopefully I'll be able to do this a little more often as time goes on. I hope to have more chapters like this, because it's the only way I'm ever going to get around to every single character, but next time, back to action.

Until Next Time!


	23. Why We Fight

"Why do we fight?"

That was a good question. And it wasn't referring to the petty squabbles which were constantly breaking out amongst them, but no, Metal knew that Storm Eagle had intended for answers to the question "Why do we fight against the All-Stars?"

Metal had his answer. He wanted revenge. Against Eggman for betrayal, and against Omega and Shadow for foiling his previous plans. "I want revenge." He said. Cold as ever.

The two had just finished a practice match in one of Polygon man's crystal created arenas. Metal felt no personal connection towards any of the Mavericks, but as they too were androids, they tolerated his icy nature more.

"But still" Storm responded "It doesn't answer my question. Why do _we_ fight? Us as a group."

"I don't think that's a question that can be answered. Depending on who you ask, motives will be different." Metal explained. Storm Eagle paused for a moment before flying off. The crystal arena returned to its original state. Metal remained disguised as Mecha Sonic. It pained him to resort to using one of Eggman's failures as a disguise, but he had to remain concealed. But he wanted to keep that off his mind, and so he decided to travel for a bit. He needed to go to Calypso's hub to do that.

They were free to use the hub whenever they pleased, and most people did. Just a large but cluttered room filled to the brim with teleporters going anywhere and everywhere. Metal had no chaos emeralds, another thought which plagued his mind. It meant he was forced to use the hub to get anywhere.

Of all the places he could go, he chose one he wasn't sure why Calypso had. Calypso himself probably didn't know about half the places the teleporters went to. But he went there, for old time's sake.

Stardust Speedway. That's what the sign said. Or rather, it said

"St u Spe w y". The place seemed a bit run down. However, it still stood. He remembered. That was the first time he fought the hedgehog. He underestimated him heavily, and it cost him dearly.

Smoke came from his engine, sparks flew from his circuits, but still, he was just a few feet away from catching up. The hedgehog couldn't outpace him, not with pure speed. The hedgehog looked over his shoulder and saw that. He tried to move faster, but to no avail. Metal charged for the hedgehog. He felt emotions he was not supposed to feel; Hate, Anger, Joy, all at once. It felt great. All the woes of the damage done to him felt like they were gone. But then time slowed down. The hedgehog leaped into the air, while Metal could not look up.

He then felt a slam on his back. The hedgehog landed in front of him, racing away. Metal was not far behind. But only because of a spectacular crash and burn. His head was spinning and every crash against the speedway made things worse. Finally, Metal screeched to a halt only to get a glimpse of the blue blur take off into the horizon.

More emotions he felt. Despair, Anger again, Hate again, Frustration. It was only the first time he had fought the hedgehog, and yet he felt so determined to stop him. He didn't know why, but it wasn't because Eggman told him that was what he had to do. He knew it wouldn't be the last he would see of Sonic.

But it would be a while before he saw him again, and even longer before he came close to winning. But the coward brought outside help, and destroyed all his hard work and effort. It crushed him inside, and intensified his hatred for not only the hedgehog, but everyone around him. Especially the incompetent buffoon responsible for creating him. But Eggman rarely used him after that, so no such luck to get the hedgehog or anybody else. Until he came. He remembered it clearly.

He was pacing the Egg Carrier, boiling with anger, when he heard the voice. "Hello, Metal." Metal turned to face the voice. It belonged to a disembodied purple crystal head. Metal didn't really care that it was out of place. "How did you get in here?" Metal demanded. The head kept smiling. "That's not important. I am Polygon Man." Metal kept staring at Polygon Man with his icy stare. "Why should I care?" Polygon Man never stopped smiling. "I'm here to help you get rid of all your enemies. The Hedgehog, his friends, Eggman, and anybody else you may desire. Metal didn't have ears, but if he had them, they would have perked up at that. But he quickly brought himself back down to earth. "How do you plan to do that? I don't think you know what you're up against." Polygon Man shook his head. "No, no. I've done my homework on your enemies. All you have to do is take this crystal."

Metal focused on the crystal Polygon Man made hover in front of his face. "How do I know this isn't a trick?" Metal asked, charging himself to blast Polygon Man to smithereens. For the first time, is face fell. "Well, I guess I can't prove it to you. But it would be a shame to see you struggle against him forever. All I ask in return, is your help in getting rid of an enemy of my own."

"Oh?" Metal was interested. "What kind of enemy? Why not get rid of him yourself?" Polygon Man smiled. "Take the crystal, and have your fun first." Metal still didn't completely trust Polygon Man, but he really wanted to get rid of the hedgehog. He snatched the crystal out of the air. Then power came to him all at once. It was like the chaos emeralds. It engulfed him, giving him a familiar appearance. The Metal Overlord. He didn't even thank Polygon Man before he took off, tearing through the Egg Carrier in search of the Hedgehog. Mobius wasn't far. That meant that Sonic would have to be nearby, with the Egg Carrier so close to Mobius. Metal didn't wait.

He soared down from the skies, indiscriminately destroying everything he saw. He relished in the terror and chaos. The rumbling of the buildings as they crashed to the ground, as people below him panicked, not knowing what to do. They were terrified and helpless. His beams made sure any rubble left caught fire. The entire city was disintegrating before his eyes, and no one who could stop him was anywhere to be seen. He had killed almost everyone in the city in under a minute, and instilled fear into the hearts of those who survived. He was the king. He was the strongest now.

He flew back up to the Egg Carrier, looking for one last target. Eggman walked out onto the landing deck of the Egg Carrier. His pathetic badniks surrounded him as he was ready to attack Mobius. But he stopped. Someone had beaten him to the punch.

Metal took great joy from watching as Eggman's cocky grin turned to a look of uncertainty and worry. Metal wasted no time in destroying the badniks. It took seconds. Eggman realised then he was all alone and tried to take off.

But Metal would have none of it. He barely got there in time, but he damaged the Egg Mobile. It crashed on the runway and Eggman was panicking.

The runway fell through to a place where he kept emergency escape Egg Mobiles. He would have called it clever, had he not known about it. But he still remained quick to keep up with Eggman. As Eggman was frantically trying to get the clunky mobile to move, Metal landed behind him and prepared for the sweetest moment of his existance. Eggman turned to face his creation. "Goodbye, Doctor." Metal dealt a heavy blow to the doc's skulland that was that. But he still had unfinished business. He landed back up on the runway and stared into space. But something did surprise him. He heard the hedgehog teleport behind him, but yet no attack was launched.

"Hello Shadow." Metal's icy demeanor on full show. "Come here for a fight?"

Shadow nodded. "Excellent." Metal would have smiled if he could.

He felt extremely confident, an charged at Shadow, who used Chaos Control to avoid the attack. Metal screeched to a halt and turned around for another stab at Shadow. But Shadow launched a chaos spear at Metal. It hit him, and he felt it. That came as a great shock. He wasn't supposed to feel it, but maybe it was just the self delusion that he had given himself. It looked like he would have to work harder for victory. But he quickly shook off the shock and fired his chest beam at Shadow. Shadow predictably used chaos control to avoid another blast. Metal was prepared though, as he tackled Shadow instantly after he found his new location. Shadow was sent flying across the Egg Carrier, but he quickly recovered and jumped out of the way of Metal charging at him again. "Is that the best you can do Metal?" Shadow mocked. "Cause I'm just getting warmed up." Shadow removed his inhibitor rings.

Metal charged at Shadow again, but Shadow did not try to avoid the hit. Instead, he charged to meet it. The collision shattered all the glass on the Egg Carrier. Shadow held Metal in place as he tried to pull away. Shadow slammed Metal into the ground and jumped onto him as he was embedded in the landing deck. Shadow repeatedly spun on Metal, making sparks fly from the robot. But Metal bided his time. He knew that Shadow couldn't keep up that level of intensity for long. Metal readied a maximum overdrive. Shadow saw it though, and so he sprang off Metal and put his inhibitor rings back on. It may have been a mistake to take them off in the first place. The Maximum Overdrive was enough to shatter the runway of the Egg Carrier, causing it to drop into the hellfire below. Metal dropped down beside Shadow who stood on the short part of the runway which hadn't broken off.

"What the hell have you done?!" Shadow demanded. "Something I should have done a long time ago." Metal answered. "You should join me Shadow. You have so much potential to be great." Metal taunted. "No. I know I can beat you. Once I go to G.U.N., and tell them who's responsible for all this, they'll find your weakness. Then you'll fall for the last time!" Metal shook his head. "If you give away my identity to anyone, and I mean anyone, well, take a look at this spectacle." Metal gestured to the burning city below. "It would be a shame if more incidents like this were to occur." Shadow gritted his teeth. He knew Metal was capable of destroying the entire world. He didn't want that. But he stood no chance on his own of fighting Metal. He didn't even have all the chaos emeralds. "Even with all your friends, you could not stop me." Shadow's expression saddened. Metal chuckled. "I didn't expect the Ultimate Life Form to be such a pushover."

"I'm not done yet." Shadow retalliated. He wasn't quite sure why he said that, but he felt angry for sure. "Oh really? What's your plan? I'm dying to know." Metal wished he hadn't asked that question. No sooner than when he finished asking, he heard a familiar metallic voice. "ANNIHILATE!" Omega opened fire on a startled Metal, with every bullet finding its mark. "GAH!" Metal was blinded by the hail of bullets. Shadow then knocked him off the edge of the egg carrier. Metal was falling, and he couldn't see clearly. Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. His vision cleared as he hurtled towards the blazing inferno below. He flew away from the fire just in time, and back up to the Egg Carrier.

He wanted revenge for the cheap shot Shadow took at him. He saw the hedgehog, and charged into him. That did enough to knock him out. "Consider that a warning, Shadow." Metal warned the unconcious hedgehog. He turned to face Omega. "I will settle my dispute with you later, Omega." And with that, he was gone. Back to Polygon Man.

"Well, what did you think?" Polygon Man asked eagerly. "I won't lie, it's quite useful." Metal admitted. Polygon Man smiled. "Excellent." Metal knew what was next. "Who is this enemy you have trouble fighting?" He asked.

"A man by the name of Ken Kutaragi. He is assembling a team to try and take back something I have stolen from him. I'm assembling a team of my own, to prevent him from doing so. All I ask is your help as a member of my army."

Metal had no doubt in his mind now. "Deal."

That was why he fought. He still wanted Omega, Shadow, and Eggman dead. But it was easier said than done. His "allies" were no help either. Most were either helplessly incompetent, completely untrustworthy or both. But still, things could be worse...

Calypso sat at his desk, listening to a radio. It wasn't tuned in to paranormal or nightmarish frequencies though. Instead, it was tuned into a news station. There had only been a few attacks launched by Polygon Man, after all. Most of civillisation was unharmed. The intense debate raging on was somewhat soothing. It showed that ordinary humans were panicking. Until, that was, the radio host introduced a new guest. "Gentlemen, I will have to interrupt you there as I must introduce head of the Department of United Protection, Eugene Sims. Mr. Sims, a pleasure to have you on this show, now, first of all, how are you combating these alien forces?"

"Well, I think many people will be pleased to know that we are turning the tide against these attackers. We have worked towards finding weaknesses for these aliens and have been successful, which is a large part of why we were able to drive the aliens back."

Calypso didn't like him. He sounded like a cocky young man, cool and composed in times of great crisis, what a disaster. But he wasn't concerned now. Aside from internal turmoil against Calaca and Gigadis, Mr. Ash was still on the loose. Ash was a huge problem. Calypso actually feared him, and that fear was reserved only for Ash. He had proven himself to be a powerful foe, while most of the other people he had come to know weren't even capable of landing a scratch on him. That reminded him of something. Calypso went over to his trophy cabinet, where he kept items which previously belonged to previous Twisted Metal contestants.

He opened the cabinet and stepped inside. Then he pressed gently against the back wall, causing it to slowly lower. It gave way to a pristine laboratory complex, where many of Dr. Neo Cortex's grunts were carrying things around. Calypso searched for the man himself, and found him with his head buried in recorded data and analysis he had lazily sprawled across his desk.

"You know, I can send someone to clean this place up if you so wish." Calypso remarked. "No no. I insist on keeping it this way." Cortex responded. Calypso said nothing. "How is the subject coming along?" Calypso asked.

Cortex got up from his seat and gestuted for Calypso to follow him. "Unfortunately, he's still quite independent and hostile, and he is learning too. Black keeps taking slightly longer every time to subdue him. His power is excellent, but unless we can convince him to join us, well, we're wasting our time."

Calypso took a minute to digest that information. "Are there any ways in which we can convince him to join us?"

"Well, I've been thinking." Cortex began. "I haven't done this yet, but I think we should give him a crippling weakness. Like an element or weapon which will reduce him to his weakest state so we can force him to work for us. Although, there is the small possibility that the All-Stars or someone else may figure out his weakness before we do."

Calypso nodded his head. "Interesting. I'll consider the option. What elements would you propose?" Cortex took out a small list. Well, I think the most obvious one is All-Star Power, although it may be too plentiful. Secondly I would suggest electiricty, but that too is plentiful. It's been tough to figure out something that fits all of those categories." They thought about it for a few minutes, standing in the corridor, until Dr. Nefarious came running to them. "Excellent news! I have the perfect weakness for him!" He announced. "What is it?" Calypso asked. "This" Nefarious held up some sort of custom made pacemaker. Cortex looked confused. "What good is this?" He asked. "Take a look at this." Nefarious showed the other two a tablet he had. A video which supposedly showed the effects of the pacemaker was playing. As the video went on, Nefarious explained how it worked. "As you can see here, the pacemaker works with this remote here. The clamps on the top will come down on his Aorta, Vena Cava's and Pulmonary Arteries, which puts him in a lot of pain. You know what will happen to him if you don't unclamp."

"He dies." Calypso smiled. "I like this plan. Do you think you can sedate him?"

He asked Cortex. "Of course. I like this plan as well." He smiled. "Excellent."

Calypso's thoughts drifted elsewhere. As he left the lab he thought about Gigadis and Calaca. They would prove to be a problem unless he took care of them quickly and discreetly. He had quite a few on his side already, although it wasn't enough. If he really wanted to get Mr. Ash before Mr. Ash got him, he needed far more support.

Unfortunately, it was support he was unlikely to receive. Everyone seemed to have a list of people they could trust amongst the group, and unfortunately for Calypso, he wasn't very high on many of them. But Calypso didn't panic too much, after all, he had ways of getting that support.

It wasn't too hard to get things like that done when you were the prince of darkness.

The coldness of the tundra would have eaten away at most people, But not James Ash. He stood alone, surrounded by miles of snow several feet deep, in the middle of a blizzard. The roaring wind almost made it impossible to think, no one in their right mind would ever go out here. But that's why it was perfect. He wasn't sure where he would go from here and Calypso would surely look to hunt him down before he got a chance to reclaim what was his. What about those All-Stars though? It was something he kept in the back of his mind ever since he saw them, and it wasn't that he was a lone wolf, but he knew Sweet Tooth would likely try to kill him, or at least turn the rest of the All-Stars against him, and the last thing he needed was more enemies.

But really, at the end of the day. it might have been worth a shot. He would at least find out if they were his enemeies if he went there, and if they turned out to be his eneemies, well, so be it.

Ragewolf took five seconds to pounce on the dummy and completely tear it to microscopic threads. He knew why he fought. Taterazay. He hated Tataerazay. Ragewolf always had a repuatation for being a hot head, but he had never been so hell bent on accomplishing something before as he was now on killing the guy who ruined his life. But he wasn't the only person motivated bz hate, no, in fact, right next to him, Evil Cole fired electircity at one of the dummies until it caught fire. It was more obvious who he hated, his good counterpart. However, Evil Cole was more restrained than Ragewolf. He still had a firey temper , but he could at least restrain himself when he wanted to. Less obvious though, was the second person he wanted dead, and this one was going to be slightly more challenging, but he wanted Calypso dead. The only trouble was, that Calypso wouldn't fight him until he killed Good Cole, and Evil Cole really wanted that opportunity more than anything in the world.

"I'm gonna get you, Taterazay." Ragewolf muttered underneath his breath. "Just wait until we face each other again, MacGrath, then you'll no longer have to worry about anything." Cole grunted as he fired more electricity.

Edgar Ross sat back as Gundahar and Bohan became more heated in a debate over who should do what when they attacked the All-Stars. "I keep telling you, I'll have better technology to go up against the heavier ones, you simply overwhelm the lighter ones with your numbers!" Gundahar ordered. "Your technology is prone to error! What happens when it inevitably fails? We'll be in an awful lot of trouble then, won't we?"

"Guys, come on. If you mix up your troops, split the groups in half, then send them to different places, twice the work can be done, how about that? I'll even throw in my mavericks to the pool, if Bohan agrees to mix in his guys as well." The five at the table paused. "I'll be. That's a fine idea." Edgar Ross finally spoke up. "I'll even throw in my men to the battalion. That ought to crush any chances they got against us." Bohan agreed as well. "Fine. I'll donate some men to the cause as well." The five had come to an agreement. A reluctant agreement, and they still felt cold towards one another, but it was an agreement nonetheless, and that was prettty rare amongst the villains.

Polygon Man. He was closer than he had ever been to achieving his goals. He thought about what he would do, once he had fulfilled that, and he wasn't coming up with any ideas. He had been focused on this goal for the most part of 20 years, and now that the 20 years was almost up, well, he kinda felt sad. But he would finally be able to exact his revenge on everbody who forgot about him, especially Kutaragi. Kutaragi was the one he really wanted to see suffer for leaving him as an unfinished project . But he still kept it at the back of his mind, reserving his thoughts for when he was alone like this. There was no way anyone would ever trust him if he consistently went on about his own ideals, even though half of the time, it was all anybody he had recruited ever went on about. But he put up with it for obvious reasons. Although that was a problem he had to address. He had a group of individuals on his hands. Powerful individuals, but there was very little chemistry. Until he could get them all to trust each other as teammates, they would never get anywhere. As a wise man once said, "A team is not a group of people who work together, but a team of people who trust each other"

 ** _Author's Note_**

I thought I'd do a quick chapter about the villains before I did the last two chapters of the All-Stars being split up in groups. Once again thanks for your patience, and thanks for reading. Until Next Time!


	24. Invasion Intrigue Pt4

"So I think it would be best if we were to leave it at this. You go back to your side, and I keep my people to theirs. We will offer assistance to you in repairing Vekta City, but nothing more." Hera Visari announced.

Dmitri Barrens wasn't happy. "But Autarch, I implore you, this is a threat which faces our entire planet, and not just one side or the other. We must join our forces to protect against any further invasions!"

But it was in vain. The agreement reached was not at all ideal for Vektans, but they were weakened by attacks. They couldn't get a better deal, and he didn't want to launch the missile either. He was forced to give in to the autarch's demands. Hera seemed very indifferent to the whole thing, unlike Akro. He was gone though, figuring it would be pointless to argue against her.

"Well? How did it go?" Echo asked. Kratek didn't even answer. That said it all. "Not great then?" Echo asked again. "Not great, Echo, would be a compliment to that deal. We'll probably be safe, but not for much longer. We have to make her realize that. By any means necessary." Echo shook her head. "Against the entire Helghast army at her side? No way. You might be their superior, but she's their leader. They'll listen to her over you." Akro conceded. "That might be true, but I'll find a way. I must, before it's too late." Echo sighed. "Fine, but we're gonna need a lot of help, and from somewhere nearby."

* * *

Mr. Ash had gotten himself from a frozen hell to a concrete one. New Helghan. Well, if there was an old Helghan, he would've hated to see it. It wasn't much fun. Most of the people gave him dirty looks, as if he was bringing a plague with him. Well, if they kept giving him dirty looks, he would give them hell. He might have lost some of his powers, but that didn't mean he wasn't capable of being a hell raiser. But he put it off for now. Just look for the All-Stars, and get out of here without creating too much smoke for Calypso to spot.

He walked past two blond spiky haired guys with swords, brushing their shoulders as he walked past. He turned to confirm that was what he saw, and sure enough, they were looking back. He didn't want to get involved in a confrontation. "Pardon me, sirs." Then he continued on his way. There seemed to be no signs of any All-Stars being here. Well, what better to do then, than go to the highest office in the land? Mr. Ash went to the giant building with banners draping off it completely surrounded by guards with orange eyes and gas masks. There seemed to be nothing going on.

Except for a guy wearing shades, a fedora, a scarf and long trench coat. It was almost as if he didn't want to be seen. Mr. Ash decided to ask him a few questions. He was walking away from the building as Ash went towards it. "Excuse me sir, what's your business here?" He looked over at Ash, and said nothing. He kept moving, slightly faster this time. Ash shrugged. Obviously he wasn't interested in discussion. Mr. Ash continued towards the building before he was stopped by guards. "ID." One of them said. Ash stopped and produced his actual ID. They looked skeptical, but deemed it to be authentic. "What's your business here?" Another asked. "I'm here with a message from a potential ally." He lied. "Of course you are. Now, piss off."

Ash quickly moved on from that failed attempt. "Right, well just tell me this; Who was that man who just left?" The guards didn't answer. "Well? What are you waiting for? Fuck off or learn the hard way not to waste our time. Ash decided not to fight. "Fine." He walked off. What now?

Cloud and Dart looked back at the man who had bumped into them. He apologized and went on his way. "That guy seems suspicious." Cloud muttered. "You wanna tail him?" Dart asked. "Nah, it's probably not worth it." They had been on the planet for 4 days now, and had seen a lot in that time, but right now things had slowed down a bit. The chimera was still recovering in hospital, and his friend refused to leave his side. The soldier was also recovering, but they were unsure about him, even a little uncomfortable around him. But other than that, not a lot was going on at the moment.

Until a Helghast soldier came up to them. "The Commander wishes to speak with you. It's urgent." He left. "Wonder what he wants?" Cloud asked. "Better find out" Dart responded as the two took off to find out what the trouble was.

Shortly, they arrived at the military base, where Akro was looking at a giant radar. "Take a look" He said. "This is our airspace." The green light beam circled the radar again and again showing one single red spot which moved across the bottom left. "Something approaching from space. It appears to be headed towards Vekta. Go and see what it is and report back to me."

Echo joined the two for the mission, as they went towards a land border this time, looking for whatever had appeared on the radar. They got past security without much hassle, and made their way towards the Vektan parliament building. They were stopped by security, but again, without much hassle, were told that they would be escorted to Dmitri Barrens. "A UFO, you say?" He looked a Vektan radar and noticed a small dot on the radar. "I see. Well, it looks to be some way away, so I'll ready my troops. Thank you for your co-operation. Send my regards to Kratek."

But just as they were about to go to the troops, the door opened. A man covered from head to toe entered the room. "Good day, commander." He walked towards the desk. "Who are you? And what are you doing in my office?" Dmitri demanded. "My name is Calypso. Your petrusite missile. I want it. I'm willing to pay heftily, of course."

Dmitri shook his head. "This is absurd, I mean seriously? You're trying to buy our national security essentially." The man seemed disappointed. "Let me rephrase. I need that missile." He said. "No." Dmitri held firm. "Now, get out of my office before I have you arrested." The man frowned. "Well then. Let that be so. You'll regret it." He turned to leave, only to see someone else standing in the doorway.

"Mr. Ash." He said. "How nice of you to drop by. I'm afraid I must be on my way though." Calypso tried to walk by, but Mr. Ash shoved him back into the office. "Not until I finish what you started." Mr. Ash cracked his knuckles. Calypso sighed. "Oh well, so be it." The other four in the room, sensing that it would be a violent confrontation, decided it would be safe to get out. Dmitri smashed a window overlooking Vekta city, and jumped out, with the other 3 following suit.

Mr. Ash launched a punch at Calypso, connecting with his jaw. Then a flurry of punches followed as Mr. Ash further injured Calypso going for his head and torso. Eventually guards heard the commotion and came to the office to break it up as Mr. Ash relentlessly beat Calypso. Then Calypso started to glow purple. He grabbed Mr. Ash's fist mid-punch and surrounded himself in a fiery vortex. Mr. Ash wasn't prepared for that. He felt it as the flames blew against him with everything they had. The guards immeditely retreated and evacuated the building.

Desperate times called for desperate measures and so Mr. Ash leaned forward and sunk his teeth into Calypso's hand. Calypso released immeditely and clutched his hand. Realising there was nothing seriously wrong, he returned his attention to Mr. Ash, a second too late. Ash picked up Calypso and flung him through the broken window. Calypso must have went at least 80 yards before a satisfying thud which suggested he landed. Mr. Ash was quick to follow him, jumping through the window without thinking. He crashed into pavement on the streets of Vekta City, forgetting he couldn't jump 80 yards. But that didn't stop him. He landed on his feet and started running through the streets to where Calypso inevitably awaited him. However, when he arrived, Calypso was nowhere to be seen. The pavement was cracked, showing he obviously had landed here. That meant he at least had to be nearby. He readied himself for a fight.

Then he saw the man himself. Calypso drew closer to Ash, without slowing down. This surprised Mr. Ash, but he quickly realized it was probably a trap. "You're quite strong" Calypso remarked as he came face to face with Mr. Ash. "But the road ends here for you, Ash."

Mr. Ash raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Is that so? Funny, 'cause I was gonna say the same thing about you."

Calypso's left hand turned into a massive claw as Calypso slashed at Mr. Ash. The impact was enough to knock Mr. Ash back a bit, as he stumbled and stuggled to regain his footing. Because he was moving backwards, he was able to see the trail of red he was leaving. It was alarmingly big, but Mr. Ash ignored it, focusing instead on fighting Calypso, or at least he tried. Even concentrating was a challenge, as he blindly swung punches and kicks at Calypso who danced around him, throwing in more slashes, knowing that his chances of landing a blow were extremely limited. He just survived enough to see two spiky haired blond swordsmen arrive and hit Calypso with devastating force into the air. Mr. Ash breathed a sigh of relief. He trudged over to the nearest cover he could find and waited for his health to regenerate. Given the damage he sustained, that could take a while.

 **THUD!**

Calypso had landed. It hurt him, but only as if he had fallen off a bicycle or something. Other than that, he dusted off his miraculously intact suit and faced Dart and Cloud. "Well done gentlemen. I haven't felt a blow like that in years." Cloud and Dart looked at each other. Not the result they were expecting. But they didn't show him that. "I'd love to stay, but alas, I must go." And with that, he was gone.

Shortly afterwards, soldiers arrived. Echo was there too. "What the hell was that?" She asked. It was a good thing Cloud and Dart got there when they did, limiting damage to a very small area of the city. "We don't know" Cloud answered. "Did you find out what was on the radar?" Echo shook her head. "No. But whatever it is, the Vektans are prepared now, thanks to us. They tracked down where it's going to land and have secured the landing zone. I think we should go with them and see what it is." Cloud and Dart agreed that they should too, and so, all 3 of them arrived at the landing site of the ufo half an hour later. It had already landed, and VSA soldiers completely surrounded it.

A set of stairs came down from the top of the gargantuan aircraft. Down from the aircraft came one man. He was an unusual man, glowing blue, but he walked down the steps alone, no gadgets, no tricks or weapons. It took him a minute to get down the stairs, but he got there. Then all the guns cocked at once. It was the only sound anyone could here in the dead silence. "Raise your hands above your head and don't move!" one soldier ordered. The man complied. "If I may, I wish to speak with Commander Barrens." He said. "You'll get your chnce to speak when he arrives." The soldier responded.

The Commander did not take long to make his way to the landing site, heavily guarded, of course. "Ah, Commander Barrens!" The man made his way forward, only to be quickly stopped. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Don't move!" The man stopped again. Barrens approached the man and shook his hand. "A pleasure to meet you, commander. Kenneth Kutaragi." Echo, Cloud and Dart still hadn't said anything. They just watched on at the calm nature of this man as he talked to Dmitri. There was something about him inherently different when compared to Calypso. He gave off an aura which was calming and inviting. They still kept on their toes, but he seemed like an honest man.

As Kutaragi and Dmitri walked away, the trio followed. When it got to Dmitir's office, the guards waited outside. But the guards stopped the three from entering. "The Commander wishes to speak in private." A guard told them. But then the man Kutaragi spoke up. "No, no. They must come too. But first I wish for you to get that soldier and those two Chimera from New Helghan." They were stunned. "But-how?" Kutaragi smiled. "I shall explain it to you all once you are regrouped." Stunned, Dart went back to New Helghan to get Hale and the Chimera. They were all easy to find, staying in the hospital. Nathan Hale was sitting in the reception area, waiting to get out of the hospital. Despite not even knowing him, Dart was relieved to see that his eyes were back to normal and that he was able to function as a human without acting like a paranoid freak. Hale looked okay enough, considering what he looked like yesterday. His skin was still very pale and he couldn't keep still. But at least he showed self awareness. "Are you okay?" Dart asked. "I'm fine." Hale answered. "That Chimera that got beat up is now on crutches." He added. Sure enough Angelo came around the corner bandaged up and on crutches. No one really paid any attention to him or Kain, so it made conversation easy. "We have to back over the wall." Dart explained. "There's some guy who wants to see us."

And so finally, with everyone assembled, Kutaragi informed them about the All Stars. After being told about it, they were skeptical. "So you're saying that there's a guy going around recruiting this all powerful team, and you're doing the same, and that there's gonna be an armageddon or something because of that." Kutaragi nodded. "Also, the energy you have is our only chance at fighting back." Kutaragi smiled. "Correct." Cloud paused. "No offense, but that sounds like bullshit." The other five agreed. "I'm not so convinced." A man from behind them said. It was that same guy who fought Calypso. "Ah! Mr. Ash!" Kuatargi seemed pleased. "So glad you could come. My name is Kenneth Kutaragi." Mr. Ash walked up and shook his hand. But then something happened. The energy shot forward from Kutaragi into Ash's veins like a hail of bullets. Mr. Ash recoiled and held up his hand. The energy flowed in and out of him like it did with Kutaragi. It was disorienting, and almost made it impossible to do anything.

"What the hell is this?!" He demanded, coming around slightly. "That is All-Star Power. It is one of our few chances at defeating Polygon Man. I will be able to further demonstrate its effects on my aircraft." Kutaragi explained. The others looked at each other. "I'll let the Helghast know you're gone." Dmitri said. They had forgotten he was even in the room. "Well...if you say so." Echo sighed. "It's fine Echo, Akro will understand. New Helghan will be able to stand on its own two feet now." Echo was obviously reluctant to leave. "I assure you. If ever anything is needed, we will get in touch with you." Echo looked at the others. She hardly knew these people. For all she knew, they were going to skin her alive. But yet, something inside her compelled her to trust these people. "I...I...well...if you're sure." Echo answered. "Tell them I'll be forever loyal to the Helghast." She saluted Dmitri and then left.

The PS Airship 1995 was somehow even bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside. 26 Decks and supposedly a crew of 150 people made the place seem a bit empty, but Echo didn't care. At least not right now. A soldier on board the ship showed her to her quarters. Echo was slightly taken aback by them. Maybe it was all those years of military service which had lowered her expectations, but to Echo, her quarters were perfect. Exactly how she would have designed them. With posters of Helghan revolution, and her own personal library of books. There was a tv with 4 video game consoles hooked up to it, and a few games for each one. Echo didn't pay much attention to those, or the other two handheld consoles. Instead, she pondered how this was possible. There was no way someone who she had just met should have been so knowledgable about her. Absolutely no way. But here she was, noticing how every detail was to her liking. So how did it happen?

Cloud and Dart were having similar experiences. "I gotta say, Dart, that Kutaragi guy thought of everything. I mean, my quarters are exactly as I would have designed them." Cloud explained. "I understand what you're saying. It's almost like this guy has been stalking us or something."

The two Chimera and Hale were equally confused. But no one said anything. Was there something about Kutaragi they didn't understand?

* * *

Echo sat on her bed for a while, in silence, just to reflect on everything since Sinclair was assassinated. It had been a rollercoaster until then, and it hadn't stopped. Then there was a knock on the door. Echo got up and answered it. It was a Vektan police officer. He wore a helmet, a visor and was covered from head to toe in military gear. He also had a robotic drone by his side, similar to the one Kellan had. "Can I help you?" Echo asked. The man said nothing. "Um, could you please tell me your name at least?" The man finally spoke up. "Don't you already know who I am, Echo?" Echo's heart skipped a beat. "Kellan?" The man took off his helmet and visor to reveal his face. It was the one Echo was so familiar with.

"But...you were dead!" Echo recalled seeing Kellan lying motionless in a pool of his own blood. Kellan turned to the OWL drone by his side. "Well, I thought so too. But this drone saved my life. Gave me enough to help me survive, then I found a functioning ship and was able to get it to fly me to Vekta."

"So then, how did you end up here?" Echo asked. "Well, t'hat's a long story."

He replied. About half an hour later, the story came to an end. "So I finally reached the city and noticed this ship, came on board, recognised a guy, he explained what was going on and now, here I am." Echo took it all in without saying a word. "Seems like quite the story."

"It is. But I've gotta go now. Great to see you again."

"You too." They paused for a moment, smiled, and then kissed. It wasn't the first for either of them, but the first time they shared one and it felt like the most important thing in the world. Kellan left without saying another word, but still, for the first time in a good while, Echo smiled. Kellan looked back over his shoulder as she was daydreaming and couldn't help but smile as the always so serious Echo couldn't even think straight.

Mr. Ash found the bar, the place Kutaragi said there would most likely be a fight. It was like any other bar, except no bartender (Kutaragi said the job was too dangerous for a human) and some very weird patrons.

A guy wearing a chicken mask, some snarky emo teen, and a guy all kitted up for a soccer match. But there was one guy who he recognised. It would have been impossible to miss his flaming skull that never stopped burning, or the damaged clown mask he wore. Sweet Tooth stood out from the rest like a sore thumb. "Hello Marcus." Mr. Ash said. "Marcus isn't here anymore." Sweet Tooth informed him. "That's too bad, I liked Marcus." Sweet Tooth grunted and said nothing else. Mr. Ash sat down by himself as he felt every set of eyes in the bar focus on him. He would have to wait a while before he was accepted.

* * *

Kutaragi looked out of the window of the command room aboard the airship. "Is that the last of the All Stars?" Eggman asked behind him. "I don't think I could stand much more." Kutaragi smiled. "There is but one more stop we must make before everyone is assembled. Then, finally we will be able to fight." Eggman sighed. "I hope that's true. I know I'm no saint, but to see those guys take over the world isn't something I'd be comfortable just letting happen."

"Exactly why I chose you, doctor. Pray tell me though, what will you do once everything is said and done?" Kutaragi asked. "You know what I'm gonna do. Eggmanland won't build itself." Eggman answered. "I see."

Eggman had one more question. "Are you going to try and stop me?" Kutaragi for once couldn't answer the question. "We will cross that bridge when we reach it" He said. Eggman left. He was headed for the Egg Carrier, when a familiar voice stopped him. "You acknowledge the fact that should you attempt world fomination he shall indeed become your enemy." Omega. "Of course I know. That's obvious. Eggman responded. "I bet you can't wait for that day."

Affirmative." Omega said without pausing. "However we face a much greater threat with Metal Sonic and his massive potential for destruction at this current time. So I request that we agree to put aside our differences until such a day arrives." Eggman was surprised. He never doubted his own superb engineering, but he had always thought of Omega as a dumb brute. Omega forced himself to extend his arm, as if to shake Eggman's hand. Eggman reluctantly shook it and went back to the Egg Carrier. Omega trudged back down into the airship. That definitely didn't feel right. Eggman was an asshole in Omega's books. So why did he go through all that unneccesary trouble? There were only two people on the aircraft he had any prior knowledge of; Shadow and Eggman. Of the two, Shadow was obviously far more preferable, but however much he hated it, he needed to stay close to Eggman. He was way more confident about Metal Sonic, which was enough for Omega. Shadow seemed fearful of Metal. Omega had to put the pieces together himself before Shadow told him that it was Metal who had attacked the Egg Carrier. Whatever Metal had said or done, it worked. And so that left one other person who could possibly take down Metal.

His creator.

* * *

Kutaragi had one last look at the place where they would be landing. It was a world that looked like it was put together by a child. A world made out of plastic, rubber, wool, cardboard and paper maché held together by glue and sticky tape. Sackboy would surely appreciate being back here.

 _ **Author's Note**_

Y'know, I'm gonna look back on these notes one day and just...I don't even know. But now there's just one more chapter before all the All-Stars are united. After that, I have a few chapters lined up to be released for the first time in ages. Other than that, the All-Stars will return to New Helghan. I've also noticed how I tend to write based on whatever I've seen/read at the time. I still remember how my initial ideas for the fanfic were way different to the direction it's headed in now, but oh well, that's just me.

Until Next Time!


	25. LittleBigProblem

A world that was designed like a child's clumsy arts and crafts sort of thing using much the same materials was weird.

Even weirder was the fact that it was filled with life, it's very own eco-system. Arc had woken up in a strange place indeed. Nothing was talking to him, but all the creaturea were very docile. They smiled at him, and some even waved. It almost was haunting. But the strangest was yet to come. As he turned a corner, onto a small grassy field, he was greeted by a wooden puppet, and a paper man. The puppet was very obviously wooden, but there was nothing wrong with his ability to move or do anything Arc himself couldn't do. The paper man was much more interesting. He looked quite feeble, with arms and legs that were single strips of green paper, he was still able to support the bags on his back though. His head was interesting. It looked like an envelope, and was comically bigger than his frame. His facial details were childish, with one eye open, and an x in place of the other. his mouth was nothing too unusual considering he was a sentient paper machè project. He also had a stamp on his forehead, along with a green paper strip wrapped around his envelope head which looked like a sweatband. Arc chose to observe from a distance.

The puppet pointed his scissors at the paper man, who put his hands up in self defence. But the puppet wasn't having any of it. He slashed at the paper man, who barely had time to react.

He curled up into a little ball and rolled backwards, then realized he had to fight.

The Puppet was already trying another slash with his scissors from above, but the paper man anticipated it, and took out a camera from his backpack. One flash later and the Puppet was blinded. Even Arc found himself shielding his eyes from the flash. The puppet lost control of himself and unceremoniously landed in a heap to the side of the paper man. The puppets head rolled off, and seeing it as an opportunity, the paper man picked it up and threw it at the body. That was enough to daze the Puppet. Then the paper man defied logic, using fingers he didn't have whistle. All of a sudden, this dog-like creature, who was made out of paper much like his master, came rushing into battle. As the Puppet saw the dog rushing in, he reached for a a grapling gun of sorts on his back and fired at the dog. The dog was then pulled in by the Puppet and kicked into the air, which was met with a whimper from the dog. The paper man panicked for a second, letting out a distressed noise with a visibly horrified expression on his face, and rushed over to where his dog had landed. He knelt down by his canine companion who looked pained. He had his back turned to Arc at this point, but Arc knew he must have felt bad about letting his friend get hurt. He then turned with an unsual, unsettling glare on his face. He looked at the puppet and charged, curling up into a ball. The Puppet charged with his Scissors too.

They both missed, the scissors being too high, and the paper man being too low. But the Puppet had another trick up his sleeve. He pulled out a cartoonish bomb and tossed it after the paper man. But he had a bomb of his own, which he countered the one thrown at him with. An explosion followed, with confetti flying everywhere and littering the small battlefield. The paper man threw yet another bomb, this time on the offensive, only to have it countered by a massive shield. The bomb was sent flying straight back at the paper man, but he too had one last trick up his sleeve. He pulled out an accordion, which seemed like an idiotic move, but he then squeezed it as hard as he could, to a deafening roar and a blistering wind. The bomb went flying straight back, and with the puppet dazed by the wind and the roar, he had no time to counter it. The bomb hit its mark and exploded with confetti.

The parts of the puppet scattered everywhere, and for once, it appeared the puppet couldn't put himself back together. The dog came rushing back over and tackled his master to the ground, playfully licking his face. He smiled. But then he looked over at the saddened puppet, and began to feel pity and guilt.

So he gathered all the parts of the puppet, brought them to the body, and produced a bottle of glue from his backpack. He then glued the puppet back together, and rolled his head over to ths body. The glue didn't take long to dry, and the puppet was moving his limbs again. Arc just watched on, fascinated. The puppet seemed happy, and realizing that he had rudely attacked the paper man, who clearly wasn't malicious, went over and offered an apology. The paper man seemed very cheery again and gleefuly accepted the apology.

Arc decided now would be a good time to reveal himself. He walked over to the two, who took notice, but were not hostile towards him. Arc didn't say anything, knowin they could not speak.

But someone spoke. "Are you sure these are the All-Stars?" A deep, intimidating voice asked. "I'm only going off what we're told, no questions." Another responded. Arc turned to the source of the voices.

The deep voice belonged to some ungodly creature, with greyish skin, red eyes, and floating above the ground. He wore a robe which suggested he was royalty or something, which was what Arc took notice of. The other voice belonged to a robot. He was purple, and a helmet compeletely covered his face from view. A minigun was protruding out of his shoulder, and starting to whir up.

"Well, if you are so certain that these are the targets, then we shall commence." The creature raised his hand, causing a vortex to open up in the sky, and minions to pour out. Some flew out, some fell out and landed, but all of them seemed fixated on Arc and the other two.

The creature turned to the robot. "Vile, if you wish to have your fun, I shall leave you be now." With that, he was gone. The minions weren't though. "Alright! Now we get down to business!" Vile revved up his minigun, only for another robot identical to him to arrive. "Don't shoot!" The clone warned. "Why not?!" Vile demanded. "I can't say here, but trust me, you don't want to shoot." Vile shook his head. "No." The minigun fired about three shots before the clone disarmed him. Arc barely had time to get his hands up in some pathetic form of self defence before the bullets hit them. But instead of blood pouring from his hands and then his face, the bullets embedded themselves in Arc's hands, and with a shattering noise, like someone broke a window.

Arc was hurt, but he jumped a little at the sound his hands made. Looking at his hands, he only saw that the bullets fell out and the skin had repaired. No blood. "What the-?" Vile was cut off by his clone. "You fuckwit! That's why! Let's get out of here!" The clone lifted Vile into the air and carried him off. Arc had a lot of questions, but right now, the minions were closing in. They were screeching, snarling, and gnashing their teeth, which frightened the paper man a lot. But anticipating more fighting, he hid his dog in his backpack and took out his accordion. Arc had his sword ready, and the puppet had his scissors ready. The minions began pouring over the hills, ready to overwhelm the three.

But they weren't counting on backup. Neither were the trio, but it was welcome. They fired guns at the minions, making them fall one by one, and greatly reducing their numbers. By the time they reached Arc, he was able to make short work of them.

Taking a second to look at the gunmen, one had dark skin with glowing blue eyes. It looked like whatever made his eyes that way coursed through his veins, as his body too lit up like a neon sign with whatever that stuff was. He wore dirty, western style clothing, minus a ridiculous hat. His partner was equally strange. An elf man with spiky greenish blond hair. He had a companion that looked like an orange weasel. He was shouting words of encouragement at the elf man as he mowed down the minions. "You're the man, Jak!" He cheered. So Jak was the elf's name then? Must've been.

Their gunfire managed to thin the hordes enough to be cut down by the other three. Arc then looked to the gunmen and went to meet them.

"Thanks for that" Arc shook the hand of the man with blue eyes. His hand was ice cold. Arc quickly retracted his hand. "Ah! Your hand, it's-" "Cold, I know. That's rift energy." He answered. "Rift energy?" Arc was confused. "That's right. I don't think now's a good time to explain." The elf man came over. "That's Jak, with the...ottsel, Daxter." Arc shook Jak's hand, which wasn't cold. "And I'm Emmett Graves." The man introduced himself. "I'm Arc, I'm not sure who these two are, and they don't talk either." Arc explained. "I see." Emmett looked over at the paper man and puppet. "Any idea where we might be?" Emmett asked. "No. Unfortunately, I don't really remember much at all. I just remember waking up here a while ago, and that's it."

"So you've lost your memory." Jak spoke up. "Erm, well, I haven't thought about it, but...yes. You could say I have. I don't remember anything at all except for my name and how to use my weapons." Emmett wasn't so convinced. "Absolutely nothing." He said. "You remember absolutely nothing. Not even an image or a sound in your brain. No name of any person you may know, or anything like that." Arc thought for a second, before he apparently remembered something. "Oh yes! Now that you mention it-GAH!" Arc fell to the ground cltuching his head. The other five went to his side immediately. "Are you ok?!" Jak asked. Arc quickly came around. "Ugh, yeah, I think I'm ok." He said, slowly getting to his feet. "You said you remembered something." Jak tried to return Arc to the conversation. "Oh yeah...that. I'm sorry to disappoint, but, it's gone from my head. I don't know how. I'm really sorry." Arc apologized. "That's fine. Probably something to do with that headache is all. For now, I think we should stay together as a team, you and those other two guys can come with us." Emmett suggested. Arc agreed. "Sounds great."

"Oh boy. Dad's not gonna be too happy about this." Death Jr. said to himself as he looked around the new enviroment where he was. It looked synthetic, like a dream world, and was littered with these strange, small creatures with leavs on their heads. They tried traversing the terrain by building to get across it. They had built a bridge over a gap between two hills, and were currently trying to bridge a narrow cardboard river. DJ was confused by this. "Can't you guys just make a boat or something?" He asked them. They payed no heed to him and continued building. Eventually, their bridge was built, and they were across to the other side. But DJ wasn't done with them yet. He wasn't leaving until he found out what they were. "Hey wait!" He called out after them. He stopped when he came to the river. The problem here was that the only way across was the bridge those creatures had built. It was about a foot wide, and didn't really look like it was meant to support his weight. However, it was the only way across, and DJ didn't want to lose sight of the little creatures, and so he walked across. To his surprise, the bridge didn't even creak or show any sign of giving way under his weight. That only heightened his interest in those little guys, who were obviously pretty talented when it came to construction.

Once he crossed the bridge, he looked down a path close by where they probably went. Sure enough, they had all gone there. But they didn't keep walking. Instead, they all gathered to observe a strange creature wearing robes with red eyes and what looked like horns coming from his head. He was staring down an equally strange creature which was a pale blue, had a short tail coming out of his head and wore brown shorts. He also appeared to have his mouth sewn shut, but he didn't seem to mind. He was more concerened about the guy staring him down. "Is this your army?" He asked the weird looking guy. He couldn't really respond very well. All he did was make a few panicked noises and wildly gesticulate. "I suppose there is only one way to find out." The alien guy answered. He spoke in a really raspy voice which always carried an echo, regardless of where he was. All of a sudden, out of thin air, he summoned a dog like creature which stood by his side. "After them." He ordered. "The beast roared and began to chase those little guys around. They were obviously panicked and quickly were completely separated from one another. DJ wasn't quite sure whether or not to run or try his luck against the hellhound. The alien took notice. "A grim reaper I see."

"Uh, I guess." DJ muttered to himself. "Well, let's see how good you are. After him!" He ordered the dog creature. It howled and charged at DJ. Without thinking, he just lunged at the creature and stuck his scythe in. The beast roared again and tried to get him off, but without much success. DJ took out his pistols and began to empty them into the beast. It couldn't take that much punishment. After a final weak roar, it collapsed. Not as big a challenge as it was probably meant to be, but the alien guy didn't seem surprised. "Well done."He said. "That was very good. I think you would make an indispensible ally." DJ seemed suspicious. "Wait a second, I don't even know who you are, why would I want to join you?" The alien was about to say something, when a beam shot down from the sky and hit DJ. He had no time to react, and the blast was freakishly strong. DJ was knocked back several feet, and lay unconcious.

"Another one down." The voice sounded before taking off again. "Hey, no fair! I wanted to kill him!" Black Doom turned around to see Vile shaking hs fist in the air and giving chase to the assassin. He was a strange person though. He never revealed his identity to anyone, and he always took different forms whenever he was around anyone. But even with all his disguises, it was still very easy to tell that it was him. But the only problem was that no one knew who he was. So, it was him, but who _was_ him?

He looked over at the collapsed Death Jr. and deemed his work to be enough.

"I keep telling you, this is the world of LittleBigPlanet!" Toro Inoue explained to Kuro. "But I still don't see how we got here...or how we're going to get home." Kuro tried to reason. But Toro was in his element. He looked around and noticed that there was someone lying unconcious by a river. "Hey! Toro! Over there!" Kuro called out. Toro stopped to see what could be the matter. When he saw the person sprawled out on the ground he rushed over. "Hey, Kuro! This is Death Jr., from the PSP game!" Kuro walked over. "Never mind that! Is he ok?" Kuro checked his pulse. "It seems as though he'll be fine." He heard nothing from Toro. "Toro?" Kuro called out. "Look Kuro! Lemmings! Abe from Oddworld as well!" Kuro sighed. "Toro" Then he realized something. "Hey wait, how come all these characters are in the same place, even though they are from different games?" Toro stopped. "Must be a crossover or something."

"Yeah, but why? Doesn't it strike you as odd?" Toro wasn't listening. "Toro!" Kuro called out. "What?" Toro asked, very nonchalalantly. "Don't you think it's weird that all these characters are in the same place?" Toro thought about it for a second. "I guess you're right. But what do you think happened?" Kuro had no answer. "I don't know"

"Exactly. So why worry? Nothing bad seems to be happening, so let's stay positive for now."

Yu Narukami had no idea how he got here, and no idea where 'here' was. He had at least found someone who was equally as confused as he was. I man named Ico. He wore fairly old style clothes, and seemed to wear a viking hat, but Yu learned that these were actually a part of his anatomy. Weird. The guy didn't speak either. He wrote everything down on pieces of paper Yu gave him and that was as far as communication went. Suffice to say, not very far at all. Until they encountered another party. Two men, one of them looked like he was ready to play in th nba finals, whereas the other looked far more casual in his attire. But he had with him a painting. It was of a tower, surounded by barron wastelands and mountains. But the most unusual thing about it was the sounds coming from it. It sounded like people crying out for help, incredibly disturbingly. But the man, CJ, insisted that he couldn't simply throw it away, and that there was a mystery to the painting that he was going to figure out.

He also had an emerald with him. But not just a shiny piece of eye candy. There was power in it. The other man, Kobe, claimed that there was a guy called Calypso that CJ stole both items from, and that they were somehow connected to him in very important ways. Yu was skeptical about the painting, but he believed everything about the emerald. There was just something about it. Even holding it, gave Yu a feeling of absolute power. So the four continued on for a few days, until they encountered another party, this time with five members.

The leader was a man with dark skin, tattered clothing, and most noticably, what looked like his veins, glowing a bright sky blue on his skin, as a substance coursed through it, and radiated from him. The second was an elf man, with blond spiky hair and an orange weasel thing on his shoulder. The third was a man who looked like he came from medival times, simliar to Ico, minus the horns, fourth was a strange puppet with a giant pair of golden scissors, and fifth was a creature made of paper with an envelope for a head.

Yu stopped. "Who are you?" He asked. "Emmett Graves" The man answered. "This here is Jak, Daxter, Arc, and I'm not entirely sure about those two." So the elf was Jak, the weasel was Daxter, and the other guy was Arc. "What about you?" He asked. "Yu Narukami, and these three are Ico, CJ, and Kobe."

"Do you guys have any idea where we are, or any idea how we got here?" Emmett asked. "I'm afraid not. We're just as lost as you are."

* * *

"Hey, Toro! Look over there!" Kuro pointed. There was an orange-yellow marsupial walking around just ahead of them. He wore red and yellow spotted shorts with brown gloves. In each hand, he held a boomerang. "Isn't that Ty, from the Tasmanian Tiger games?" Kuro asked. "It sure is!" Toro confirmed, taking out a pen and notepad and going off for an autograph. "Hey Toro, wait!" Kuro ran off after his eccentric friend. Ty turned his head towards the sound of footsteps. There was a white cat running towards him with a notepad and a pen in his hands. "Hold it right there!" Ty readied his boomerangs. The cat took the hint and stopped several feet in front of Ty. "Who are you?" The cat answered, but in a language Ty didn't understand. "Say again?"

A black cat came rushing up and attempted to explain it better. He took the notepad and pen from the white cat and drew some pictures, there were moonkeys in one of them, something Ty couldn't make out in the second one, and in the third and last one, a crude drawing of him. In all of the pictures, the black cat was dragging the white cat away from the other character in the picture. "Ah, I understand now." And he was on his way. Or at least he tried to get on his way, but a voice stopped them. "Wait a second, you're not going anywhere!" The voice sounded. "Who's there?!" Ty demanded. A human like creature came rushing out in front of Ty. It had a shiny metallic appearance, from a robotic looking face, to shiny metallic grey legs and blades on the soles of his feet. He wore a jacket too, and in his hands was a sword with a massive handle.

"Who are you?!" Ty demanded, readying his boomerangs. "I am Izanagi, your doom!" He quickly slashed at Ty, who barely managed to get out of the way. "So this guy's bad news. Better-Woah!" Ty barely had time to avoid another slash. "Come on Toro, let's-" Kuro noticed a cloud of dust that formed. "Wait for me, Toro!"

But for Ty, he finally got around to attacking. He tried throwing his basic boomerangs, only to have Izanagi slice them perfectly in half. "Right, gonna need something else." Ty took out some thunderangs, and waited for Izanagi to attack. He didn't ahve to wait very long, only a few seconds passed before he dived in with a stab at Ty's feet. Ty saw it coming and jumped into the air as the sword embedded itself in the ground. Then Ty hit Izanagi with the thunderangs. It didn't work. "Bad move." Izanagi said before sending an electrical current through the boomerangs. Ty felt the full blast as he went flying. That was a powerful attack, but Ty couldn't afford to keep lying down. As his vision was obscured by Iyanagi above him, he knew what to do. He took out warparang and tossed it into a nearby tree. Ty warped and fell out of the tree, but was quickly back on his feet.

Izanagi was confused as his target disappeared, giving Ty a window of opportunity. He needed this attack to be perfect. Thunderangs were no good, neither were ordinary boomerangs. He had plenty of failsafes though. He took out his kaboomerangs and threw them. Izanagi jumped up as he saw them cross paths, but couldn't avoid them as they came back and hit eachother. The resulting balst knocked Izanagi back, but he too was quickly back on his feet, seemingly unfazed by the blast. Ty switched things up again, throwing a flamerang. It hit Izanagi perfectly and left a burn mark. Now he haad another chance. He started to run circles around Izangai and fire multirangs. The rapidfire tactic seemed to be working as Izanagi was having trouble prepare any attacks. Then he surrounded himself with electricity. All the boomerangs that hit him afterwards were burnt to a crisp.

Ty tried a frostarang, only for the same thing to happen. He was then zapped with electricity. "It appears that electricty may be your weak point." Ty wasn't done yet though. He threw a lavarang at the ground with just enough force for it to embed itself. Then it erupted. Izanagai was caught in the eruption, evident from a "GAH!" from him. When the eruption subsided, Izanagi was still left standing, but he was noticably more red. "You..." He snarled. He jumped into the air ready to end the tasmanian tiger, only to be knocked off course by a shot from a gun. Izanagi turned around and noticed two men standing there. "Nice shot Jak!" Daxter congratulated his friend. "More All-Stars. Confound it!" Izanagi took off. None of the All-Stars gave pursuit, they were all more concerned about Ty. Toro and Kuro ran into the group running away from Izanagi and led them back here. "He's alive. Someone needs to carry him though, he needs help." Emmett instructed. "Hey wait a minute! Up there!" Emmett looked up to see a massive ariship coming to land near them. "Maybe they'll be able to help. Let's go!" Emmett ordered, and the All-Stars took off.

The All-Stars continued until they came across another unconcious thing, surounded by monkey-creatures and a weird amphibian looking creature. They expressed concern for the person who looked like a grim reaper lying there. He was still alive too. Emmett explained to them the situation they were in, which they obviously understood. The monkey creatures carried the grim reaper and Ty as well to the airship. There was a set of stairs leading up to the landing deck. "Do you think maybe they're expecting us or something?" Jak asked Emmett. "Maybe. But I guess we'll know for certain when we meet the crew. When the rag-tag team made it's way up to the landing deck, they were greeted by a soldier. "Our commander wishes to speak with you, if you'll follow-" "Just a second." Emmett interrupted him. "We've got two unconcious...people with us, and we're wondering if you could maybe see to them." The soldier looked at Ty and the grim reaper. "Yes the-" He stopped. "Wait a minute." He took out a checklist, and looking at them one by one, he checked off things on the list. "This means...this is excellent! Please, leave the two there, and come with me. Hey, you two! See to those All-Stars there and make sure they're healed!" He called out to two soldiers.

The remaining All Stars followed him to a room with a large enough set of stairs. Once up the stairs, they were greeted by an incredibly long oblong table that stretched across the room with a man at the other side. He was glowing blue, and appeared to be a hologram of sorts. He turned around. "Sir, we have them all. The last two are being treated for injuries, but the others are all here!" The man laughed and clapped his hands together. "This is indeed excellent news! Tell the All-Stars we shall have a meeting in two hours' time." He told the soldier. "Yes sir!" The soldier went off. "Gentlemen. Forgive me for not introducing myself. My name is Kenneth Kutaragi." He explained. "and this is the PS Airship 1994. You also needn't introduce yourselves, as I am well acquainted with you already." The All-Stars looked around. It was pretty impressive, to say the least. It was currently taking off from the arts and crafts planet. "Wait, how do you already know us? I've never seen you before." Emmett asked. "I understand that. Come back in two hours time, and I shall explain to you about the Playstation All-Stars."

 ** _Author's Note_**

Around two years ago, I started writing Playstation All Stars Battle Royale 2. For me, a lot has happened in that time frame, and writing that story carries a lot of memories for me, so it was pretty surpising to find that 1,579 people across 45 countries have read it. It might not seem like a lot, but thanks to anyone who read, it means a lot to me.

Until Next Time!


	26. The Playstation All-Stars

Kutaragi observed the room. Everyone was gathered. It pleased him to know so much work had been done. But he knew the darkest days and toughest tasks were ahead of him. So what better way to tackle them than head first?

There was very little communication between the All-Stars, as to be expected. Not all of them were All-Stars either. T-Bone, Solid Snake, Echo, Fetch, and a few others weren't All-Stars, but they had connections, as Kutaragi had anticipated. "Now, if I may have your attention!" He announced. "You may be all wondering why I have gathered you here." There was a moment where Kutaragi felt a collective 'Ya think?' from the All-Stars. "Oh no, not really." Nathan Drake said sarcastically. A screen behind them showed the Playstation All-Stars logo. "Well, wonder no more. Some of you have been blessed with the ability to harness extremely potent energy known as All-Star power. It can give one man the power of a hundred, one country the power of a world, and one world the power of a galaxy. Now where does it come from? A core. A man-made core."

"Who could make something like that?" X asked. "That would be me." Kutaragi responded. "Why make something like that?" Cole asked. "Well, you see, that's a long story. You see, there exists a video game console called the Playstation, some of you may know it. I made it. And when I made it, something much grander was made also. An entire universe. A place where ideas not possible in the real world could blossom and show themselves to the world. That's where all of you came from." He explained. "So none of us actually exist, or something?" Geralt asked. "Well, not exactly. But in my world, most of you would be regarded as little more than fiction. So now as that idea takes shape in your minds, you may look around the room and realise that a lot of these worlds exist. In fact, many of these worlds which I talk about aren't even represented at this table. You are a fortunate few indeed."

"Why isn't everyone represented? Seems unfair." Joel remarked. "Some ideas just never gained any notoriety. Some didn't have people or characters worthy of being All-Stars. Different reasons, but also different reasons for all of you being here. You are the greatest the Playstation universe had to offer." There was silence. Of course, judging from the expressions of the All-Stars, they all reacted differently. Some were seemingly saying 'wow, me?' Whereas some shrugged it off, as if to say they didn't care, or maybe it was no shock to them that they were the best. "So why now did you gather us all? Something to do with all those characters we've been fighting on our way here I presume. In fact, I think they too have been gathered by someone, or something, in a similar fashion to the way we have." Kutaragi was surprised. "How astute of you, Sir Galahad. Yes, that is correct. I am unsure of who exactly you have met, but I can tell you who I am against. A picture flashed up on the screen of a polygonal head. It was disembodied, made out of purple crystals and had yellow eyes. "This is Polygon Man."

"He's not much of a man is he, just a head." Jacket remarked. "What's a man without his head though?" Dante retorted. "Har dee har, very clever." Jacket muttered under his breath. "Polygon Man has assembled a cast of characters on his own, and this is the team he has produced. Another picture flashed up, this time of all the villains the All-Stars had encountered, even some they had never seen before. "The list is as follows..."

Shadow listened, and noticed the absence of Metal from the list, but then remembered. The sight of Mobius erupting into flames came back to haunt him. Metal could do that to the whole world if he wanted, and even if Shadow could somehow find a way to defeat Metal, he couldn't stop him from bringing that destruction to the entire world. He wasn't saying anything. Omega said nothing, and Eggman was under the same impression Shadow was. Zero laughed. "That coward Sigma, can't even take us on in a fair fight. Has to go to back up for help."

"Isn't that kind of what we're doing right now?" X tried to bring Zero back down to earth. "We only have to do this because he did it first." Zero reminded him. "fair point." X conceded. "So what's the villainous plot then?" Edward Kenway asked. "Well, Polygon Man once used to be the poster child of the Playstation. In its earliest days. But as time went on, appeal just wasn't there. So we scrapped him, and moved on to more successful ideas. But, it was my fault. I simply neglected him. I had other more pressing issues at hand, and I never bothered to give Polygon Man a chance. So one day, he tried to exact revenge. But he was defeated by a group of Playstation characters who took up arms against him. That was the first Playstation All-Stars team ever assembled. They agreed that the worst thing that could happen would be for the villains of each world to learn of this collusion and get ideas, team up against the heroes. So they agreed that any trace of the worlds existing in the same universe should be erased. So it was. But I made sure they were still imbued with the power to harness All-Star power. As the years went by, more characters joined the ranks without ever knowing it. For fear of what may come. Eventually a game was made that was made effectively as a test to see how some of the All-Stars would react to a situation where they would have to fight, and how well they would use All-Star power."

24 of them remembered. They looked around for their rivals, but said nothing. "But Polygon Man took notice of the experiment and took inspiration. He spread rumors in every world. Of a contest for untold power, courtesy of him. So he had all the All-Stars come to his lair and fight each other. I took notice and used All-Star power to break you out of his delusions. I sent you back to your own worlds, and wiped your memories of each other. Some of you still may remember the contest or the person Polygon Man put you up against at the final hurdle, but I made very much sure that you didn't remember the names or appearances of anyone else you fought, to minimize any hostile feelings you may have for one another. "I'm afraid to tell you it didn't work." Sweet Tooth said. "Probably had the opposite effect."

"But it was all a diversion. Polygon Man and his henchmen stole the core that generates All-Star power, and set about the best way to take over the world so everyone would know his name. He attacked my world first, any headquarters Playstation had. I knew what to do. I saved a backup supply of All-Star power for emergencies, and that was how I managed to get all of you together. I split you up into smaller groups to, once again, reduce hostility."

"So what's he gonna do to bring everyone to their knees?" Isaac asked. "Well, this is a map of the world as many of you may know it." Kuatargi explained, showing a map of the world. "This is a map of the world now." The map was completely different, and all the location names were completely different as well. "Polygon Man plans to bring all the worlds together, and rule over them all as king. So far, he is succeeding. You may notice that we haven't actually left the atmosphere of the planet we are currently on, and that is because, as you were being gathered, Polygon Man completed the last part of the process. All the worlds have been merged, and what you see on the screen is the end result. You see, it's much easier to spread influence over a smaller region. As such, if we do not act quickly, well then, everything will be forced to accept him as ruler. Except us."

"Why not us?" Johnny asked. "'Cause he respects us or some shit?" Kutaragi shook his head. "No, no. He has little respect for us. The reason we won't be forced to do so, is because of a deal he made. The reason those villains have assembled under Polygon Man, is because they have desires. Polygon Man has that in common with the villains, in that they want revenge. Once enough power is attained over us, well then, you shall all become property of your most hated enemy. That won't end well." That was when you could have heard a pin drop. Even the tougher All-Stars shuddered at the thought of that.

"So how are we gonna defeat him?" Danner asked. "Well, as I said, I too have All-Star power. But it is finite. I have managed to protect this ship, as you have already noticed. Any attacks you launched towards one another are not fatal. As such, Polygon Man can't overwhelm us here, because the ship is a place for All-Star battles. The only other place where All-Star battles are still currently possible, is Polygon Man's lair. So that would make it so that we could defeat Polygon Man upon arriving at his lair. It most certainly would be difficult, but it would be possible. Unfortunately, we don't know where that could be. And we are currently facing other issues. For instance, our finite supply of All-Star power gives us limited time. One year to be exact. It may seem like a lot, but then again, Polygon Man is looking to accelerate our downfall. Growing influence would severely hamper any attempts at turning the tide we may try. So we have to establish bases on earth aside from the airship."

Then the room fell silent. "Now, if anyone has any suggestions, I will take them." Eggman was the first to speak up. "I suggest we look for the seventh Chaos emerald." He took out the other six and placed them on the table. "What are those lil' trinkets?" John Marston asked. "Those 'lil' trinkets' are the Chaos emeralds. They hold extremely potent energy, which can be utilized by some people and machines. But, although I have six here, there is one more. Believe me, if we get all seven, well then, we have a good chance at defeating them for good." Eggman explained. "We don't know where the last one is, do we?" Zero reminded him. "I guess not." Eggman conceded. "Doesn't really make much sense anyway." Zero added. "Seven emeralds. Why not just have one?"

As the room erupted in conversation, Shadow thought about that for a second. "You may have something there." He looked at the map on screen. To the north, there was a small isolated island. But it was obviously a populated area. Angel City. Could it be? "That city there...Angel City. Why's it so far away from everything else?" Kutaragi looked at the city. "Let's see. Angel City. Well it's a city built on a floating island, and not much else can be said. The closest settlement is Silent Hill, on this island to the west, and to be honest, that's not much of a settlement." Shadow was adamant now. 'Of course! It has to be!' he thought to himself. "I think that the Master Emerald may be somewhere in Angel City." Shadow explained. "If we could get the Master Emerald, we might not need the Chaos emeralds."

"I see. But who should we send?" Kutaragi asked. "I think we should only send a select few, as not to draw attention to ouselves." Shadow nodded. "Agreed." Kutaragi added. "Shadow, I would also suggest that you stay back." Shadow didn't like the sound of that. "What? Why?"

"I think it would be better if, in the event of say, the Master Emerald not being in Angel City, that no one knew why we were there. If you, or Omega or Dr. Robotnik, were to go to Angel City, well then, they would surely know why you were there, and make sure we never got our hands on the emerald." Kutaragi explained. "So then who should we send?" Shadow asked. "I'll see."

"I think that we should take these islands." Edward suggested. "No. I think we should try a bigger target, like this one." Geralt pointed to the real world locations. "What about this one? San Francisco." Edward looked at it. "A city big enough to be on the map may be too big a target for us." They continued to argue.

Kutaragi, noticing that few of them were agreeing on anything, turned to Eggman. "Well, this is perfect. If this is all we have, we're as good as beaten." He grumbled. "Not yet." Kutaragi countered. "I shall just have them stay on the airship for a few days. To try and boost morale. We must however, select the All-Stars who will investigate Angel City."

"Which ones? They all seem equally incapable." Eggman pointed out. "Well, I think we should send Pyramid Head, for Silent Hill." Kutaragi suggested. "Okay. What about someone who knows about Angel City?" Eggman suggested. "Mr. Ash, I think may work. Also we should send Zeus, as a source of immense power, and Deadpool for the same reason. I think also...Delsin, and Kat. They would be able to utilize the enviroment around them for both searching and combat." Kutaragi concluded. Eggman shrugged. "You know what I think. That plan seems as good as any."

"So do we have any more ideas?!" Kutaragi asked. "Plenty of 'em, they're all shit though." Mr. Ash commented. "Shut up!" Sweet Tooth snapped. "Why do you even care? All you want is to just kill Calypso, which, by the way, isn't happening." Sweet Tooth was furious. "Is that so?! I bet you couldn't even beat me in a fight, let alone Calypso!" Mr. Ash scoffed. "I definetely have a better chance than you!" Sweet Tooth took out his machete. "Prove it!" Mr. Ash cracked his knuckles. "I will, Marcus!" Everyone's attention had now turned to the fight that was shaping up between the two Twisted Metal contestants. "Shouldn't we do something?" Eggman asked Kutaragi, who shook his head. "No. This will be good for them. Watch."

Sweet Tooth had already abandoned his machete and took out a sawn off shotgun. He fired at Mr. Ash, sending him flying down the stairs. Mr. Ash was quick back on his feet though. As Sweet Tooth attempted to fire another shot, Mr. Ash jumped over the gun and kicked Sweet Tooth in the head. Then Sweet Tooth took out a chainsaw and started to swing it around himself, hitting Mr. Ash a few times before knocking him back. Mr. Ash then charged for Sweet Tooth, until a brick wall appeared between the two. Mr. Ash rammed it down and the wall collapsed on Sweet Tooth. Mr. Ash quickly followed up by taking out a flamethrower and blasting the clown with it. Then there was a 'poof' followed by a 'Level One!' from somewhere. "What was that?" Mr. Ash asked himself. He looked at his hands and noticed that his entire body was radiating with this blue energy. He looked towards Sweet Tooth and saw the clown take out his shotgun again. The shot knocked Mr. Ash back again, but he was quickly onto his feet.

"I guess I better try this out." Mr. Ash said to himself. He didn't know why, but he felt himself subconciously going through a mental drill, like he knew what he was supposed to do. Then he triggered the power. He didn't know how, or when, but he did it. He stood to the side while Black appeared from nowhere and charged at the oncoming Sweet Tooth. They didn't collide. Instead, Black went straight through Sweet Tooth, with Sweet Tooth exploding into a plethora of red shapes. Crosses, squares, triangles and cricles, namely. Sweet Tooth appeared at the top of the steps, looking down at Mr. Ash. But he didn't attack. He was stunned. "How did you...?" Everyone else was silent too. "There it is again." Jacket muttered. Everyone was silent. "That, is an excellent demonstration of the power of All-Star Power." Kutaragi explained. "Not just Mr. Ash and Sweet Tooth, but almost every single person in this room is capable of similar things. However, I do ask that you keep the fights to our P deck, where there are practice arenas."

With that Kutaragi walked off, leaving the All-Stars to themselves. Eventually they all dispersed. Some went down to the practice arenas, some went back to their quarters, everyone had their own thing essentially. Kutaragi knew that things had gotten off to a rocky start, but he didn't expect it to be easy. Of course they would be skeptical to his ideas, hostile towards one another, and just not open to the idea of the Playstation All-Stars, but time would tell. All of them managed to make it here, at least.

At Calypso's tower, the man himself was sitting at his desk. There was a cockroach nest on the wall nearby where the painting used to be, not that it mattered. At the other side of the desk, sat Carlos Calaca and Gigadis. "I'll tell you what, gentlemen. I'll let you have the underworld all to yourselves, if only you get me the one they call Mr. Ash." He placed a photo of James Ash on the desk. "This man is a thorn in my backside to say the least, and for him to be gone from my-or the path to domination, for us, would be most convenient. "That is easy for you to say, but we don't know where he could be?" That was when the doors burst open. It was Le Paradox. "Polygon Man says he wants as much security at Angel City as is possible." He said, before leaving the room. "Well, there you have it. He could be there perhaps. Or maybe if the two of you were to split up, one go there, the other go elsewhere. It makes no difference to me, gentlemen, I shall split the reward equally between you, regardless of who does what. Do we have a deal?" The other two nodded. "Excellent. I bid you good day then, I have other things to attend to." Calypso smiled.

'Not long now. I Carlos Calaca will rule over the world of the living and the dead, as soon as I get those All-Stars!' Calaca thought to himself. 'I'll get that Mr. Ash. I know I will. It will be a world of pain and suffering which I and my queen will have for ourselves. If that skeletal numbskull thinks he's getting anything in return for his dirty work, he's got another thing coming.' They left the room, at which point Calypso turned on the classical radio station. He took out his pocket radio, and listened to the screams of his victims. Then he smiled. Wouldn't it be great to have a few All-Stars to listen to? Of course. But they wouldn't be easy to round up, because they tended to travel. Then he smiled even more, and started to chuckle. "I think this taking over the world business is rather monotonous as of late, so maybe a vacation is in order." He proceded to whistle to himself as he strolled over to the world map. "Let's see..." He dragged his finger across the map, pretending to be really deep in thought. "How about Angel City?" He asked himself. "Yes. I think that's a very wise choice. I hear that one may see some unsuspecting All-Stars there." He summoned Black. "Black, would you like to go on vacation?" Black said nothing. "Excellent." Calypso pointed to Angel City. "Could you take us here please?" Black started to surround himself and Calypso with a dark field, until all either of them could see was black. Then it started to peel away, revealing Angel City. Calypso looked around at the high rise buildings. "Such fond memories." He said to himself. "I look forward to creating even more."

 ** _Author's Note_**

There's a link to the map in my bio.

You can probably tell I don't really have artistic flair.

So now the All-Stars are finally united, but a lack of trust is evident. Calypso now has his sights set on Angel City, as do the All-Stars, preparing for an almighty showdown. Is the master emerald actually there, or do the All-Stars have to think harder than that?

Thanks for reading, Until Next Time!


	27. Just like friends Pt3

"So after that..." Jacket was explaining to Mr. Ash how he ended up on the PS Airship. Then he bumped into Zeus. "Ugh. Sorry about that." Jacket got to his feet. Zeus sneered. "Foolish mortal." He then walked on. "What a prick." Jacket muttered to himself. "That guy has issues." Mr. Ash agreed. "I get that he's a god, but he just has it in his head that he's better than everyone else."

"You say that as though you may be my equal." Mr. Ash spun around. He should have checked to see if Zeus was gone. "Well mortal? Are you daring enough to claim this is so?"

Mr. Ash then saw an opportunity. He could fight Zeus, wipe the floor with him, and put him in his place, or he could lose, but not get killed. "Yes. I say it, not only knowing I'm as good as you, but knowing I'm way better than you'll ever be." Mr. Ash taunted. Zeus was outraged. "How dare you! Such arrogance against a god will not go unpunished!" He went on reprimanding Mr. Ash for a few seconds before Mr. Ash cut him off. "Well, if you really are the king of gods, then it should be no trouble to you to put me in my place." Zeus wouldn't stand for that. "Why, I would be happy to oblige! Prepare for death, mortal!"

* * *

'LEVEL 3!' Sir Daniel held up the Anubis Stone for the last time as Galahad exploded into shapes. The arena faded and Galahad shook hands with Fortesque. "Very well done, sir." He said. "I must say, it makes me curious to know where a knight like yourself earned his title. If you will, please tell me." Sir Dan loved to talk up a storm, and so as soon as he and Galahad were in one of the many lounges along the corridors, the next two hours were spent by Dan as he raved on about his adventures through Gallowmere and London, battles against beasts and evil wizards, and of course, the Hall of Heroes. "I've never heard of such a place." Galahad told him. "It's a place for the greatest warriors of all time where they can forever feast, arm wrestle and sing out of tune to their hearts content." Dan said. He still mumbled, but Kutaragi had made it easier for him to be understood. "Fascinating. I suspect that this Zarok character has been recruited by Polygon Man?" Sir Daniel nodded. "S'right! That fiend never quits for good!" He raised his sword.

"But as I have before in the past, I will put an end to the villainous plots which he so desperately tries to execute!" He vowed. "Put that thing down!" Sir Dan jumped and dropped the sword. "You'll kill someone if you're not careful." He turned and was on his way, before he let out a heavy sigh. "Oh, hi Radec...fancy meeting you here...he...he he he..." That sorceress was a thorn in his side since day one. How she had got it in her head that they were destined to be together was beyond him, but by God did she make it known to him at every hour of every day. "Go away." Radec didn't even slow down to talk to her. "H-hey! Wait up!" She called out. Radec cloaked himself and ran off, leaving Pupuru disappointed. Arran Danner took notice, and decided to help. "X3JMR ACTIVATED." His wrist communicator buzzed. Radec's cloak began to fade. "MERC!" Radec began running off again, followed by Pupuru. Danner was just laughing to himself.

He saw a guy sitting by himself staring down a glass. Danner recognized him. He was the man who Danner saw apologizing to Ellie. He felt sorry for him, and decided to walk over. "Hey man." The man looked up. "What's eating you?" He asked, very blunt and to the point. The man remained silent. "It's about that kid, isn't it?" He nodded. Danner sighed. "I know what that's like." The man shook his head. "No. I don't think anybody could make the mistakes I made." He finally said. "Welcome to the club." Danner responded, trying to lighten the mood. Nothing. "Alright, why don't you at least tell me about the mistakes you've made? Maybe I can help." Joel sighed. He didn't really want to talk, but hey, it was better than keeping it all bottled up.

"Well, the thing is, that girl, she's one of a kind. Where I come from, this...fungus, or virus or something, it completely devastated our world. There were these spores in the air that turned your head into a mushroom and your mind to mush. People became zombies and started spreading the infection. Well, anywho, this girl got bit by one of them things, but she didn't turn. She could also breathe those spores and not get sick. So I ended up with this girl thanks to the most damned of coincidences, and I found out later along the line, this militia group called the fireflies. We were looking for 'em for quite some time, truth be told, but when we found 'em, we found out she could be used to develop a cure. It was a longshot, but it might have worked. They took her from me, but I couldn't allow them to do something like that to her like she was just some lab rat. So I got her back, told her there was no point, but she eventually figured out the truth." Dannner just sat there taking everything in.

"Sounds like a complicated story. What do you say we discuss it elsewhere?" Danner offered. Joel looked around, making sure no one else was there. "Sure."

* * *

"Y'know, for someone I've never met before, you sure are interested in my story." Delsin remarked. "Well, it's an interesting story." Kat countered. "Hey guys." Cole called out. "Hi Cole!" Kat waved back. "Just thought I'd let you know that there's gonna be a fight between Zeus and Mr. Ash in the arena. In case you're interested." Delsin stared at Cole for a few seconds. "Is everything ok?" Cole asked. "Yeah, I'm fine, just the thought of finally seeing that Zeus guy brought down a peg." Delsin explained. Cole laughed. "Yeah, I guess that would be pretty sweet." Cole walked down the corridor, looking for the elevator. Delsin ran off leaving Kat by herself. "Hey wait, hold up!" Kat used her gravity powers to catch up. "Where are you going?" She asked. "To Kutaragi, that guy has some explaining to do."

Kutaragi was talking with Eggman when they came in. "Ah! Delsin, and Kat, how goes your preparations?" He asked, very nonchalantly. "Kutaragi, I've got a pretty important question for you." Kutaragi was confused. "What is it? Is something the matter?"

"Yeah, it's been on my mind a while now, but it's about Cole. Hasn't he been dead for the past seven years?" Delsin asked. Kutaragi didn't play the fool though. "What?" Kat scratched her head. "Cole MacGrath beacme the beast and destroyed New Marais, then he was killed by a conduit." Delsin explained. "Yes. I figured that this may best be left untouched, but seeing as you know this much, it would be wrong of me to keep you in the dark any longer. Cole MaGrath has in fact, been dead. But not just Cole. Kat, you too were dead before this." Kat was taken aback. "What?! But how?!"

"You remember that black hole in Heskeville?" He asked her. "That is right, the one Raven and I managed to seal." Kat answered. "Well, did you ever think about how you managed to seal it?" He asked. "Well...I guess not. I was just happy to have it sealed. It is odd though, now that I remember. I cannot think of how."

"What happened was that you sacrificed yourself." He said it as if he were giving the time of day. "You see, it is to do with the Playstation All-Stars. It is not just you or Cole who has died. Colonel Radec, Needles Kane, Nariko, just to name a few. They have no recollection of this though. That has all to do with convenince. How strange to you would it have been to have been brought back from the dead? Instead, I place alternate memories. That was when I had the All-Star power core. So you remember life going on as normal, but in reality, you died."

"So I am dead?" Kat asked, not even trying to make sense of anything anymore. "No. But you have been ressurected, so you were dead, but now you are alive." Kat scratched her head. "But I am still confused. 'Alternate memories'? What are those things?" She asked. "Ask Jacket how he survived the nuclear bomb, and he will tell you that he found a radiation suit and managed to find his way home. That is because I gave him that memory."

"But why not just find other All-Stars?" Delsin asked. "Playstation All-Stars don't come by every day, you know! More seriously, Kat, you don't remember this, but when you pledged your alligiance to the Playstation All-Stars, you pledged that even through death you would come back to prevent threats. You made that same vow, Delsin." They were kind of silent. "I don't really know what else to say to you both. I apologize if you feel betrayed. But when you pledged, you knew fully well what may happen. But you insisted anyway. I know you don't remember that pledge, but I hope that still, you will uphold that vow, knowing the extremes I went to."

"Thank you" Kat smiled. "It is certainly a shock to me, but I understand it is for the greater good." Kutaragi smiled. "Thank you for understanding. But understand also that you may not return to Heskeville right now." Kat nodded. "Understood. I made a vow, and I will keep it!" With that, Kat and Delsin were gone. Eggman, who had remained silent, finally spoke up. "As I was saying, I don't see how we could possibly invade San Francisco and get away with it."

"I see no reason why not. We send about 25 All-Stars, and then we have you and Eugene. We should have plenty for an invasion. "Well, if you're sure. But how did you manage to raise the dead?" Eggman asked. "It's simple, once they pledge themselves to the All-Stars, they can be brought back for anything." Kutaragi explained. "So that's what happens with guys like Connor and Kathy." Eggman said to himself. "Well, not so much in Cole's case. It's much different."

* * *

Mr. Ash and Zeus had come down to the arena to settle their differences. They both knew the rules. First to three KO's wins, no items, Rival Arena. Mr. Ash looked around before remembering that he couldn't see any spectators. There were quite a few spectators though. Mr. Ash returned his focus to Zeus, who was cracking his knuckles to the sound of thunder. "One more chance for an apology, mortal!" Zeus offered. Mr. Ash laughed. "I'm good." He was starting to feel more and more confident that he could kick the old man's ass in five minutes.

"Ready? Fight!"

Mr. Ash deployed a tri gun, hoping to gain AP from a distance. But Zeus was able to throw lightning bolts at the gun, exploding it. "Looks like I'm going to have to get in close if I want to win." Mr. Ash muttered. He charged at Zeus, preparing to knock down a brick wall between himself and the king of gods. Zeus avoided the attack using teleportation and launched a lightning charged punch into Mr. Ash's back. That sent him flying against a wall and back in front of Zeus. But Mr. Ash had time to recover, and launched a kick at Zeus. He wasn't expecting that, and was blown back by the impact. Mr. Ash then took out a flamethrower and fired, gaining plenty of AP for him. As Zeus got up, Mr. Ash launched yet another attack, charging into the air and lifting Zeus with him. But now Zeus was ready to attack. He called down a lightning bolt on himself, catching Mr. Ash in the blast. That attack hurt. Mr. Ash went flying into the air, as Zeus prepared another attack. Mr. Ash saw a lightning charged uppercut being readied and decided that the best way to counter it would be with another attack. He lead with his shoulder and prepared to pound Zeus into the ground. His descent speed picked up considerably as he charged at Zeus. Zeus' charged punch collided with the charging Mr. Ash.

"Say, Cole. I hate to bother you, but, I gotta ask man, what happened to you after the..." Delsin had come down to the arena to watch the fight, knowing Cole would be there. Kat insisted she was too hungry to go down just yet, and proceeded to order an entire menu's worth of food for her sampling. Cole surprisingly was happy to answer. "The Beast? Funny story, actually."

* * *

The beast had wreacked havoc on New Marais. He had killed an entire six states population, reduced cities to rubble, but he had also destroyed Cole MacGrath. He let his hatred get the best of him, and as a result, he paid the ultimate price. As he died, a man came into view. Cole found himself waking up and seeing just one other man.

He walked up to a distraught Cole, who had just realized what he had done. "Mr. MacGrath." He said. "Oh God." Came the reponse. "What have I done?" The man rested his hand on Cole's shoulder. "There are many more people who would have done much worse in your position." He tried to console the conduit. "You don't understand, I'm supposed to be better than most people."

"Mr. MacGrath, you have been treated like dirt by these people. They dug their own graves. You needn't feel guilty." Cole brushed off his hand and stood up. "I just wish I could be free from that evil!" The man smiled. "Mr. MacGrath, that is exactly why I am here. I believe that a man like you deserves a second chance at life. A chance to set things straight." Cole turned to him. "And so I give you one wish. You will return to life right here, with the power of that one wish. Be it to have your identity erased, or for money, or anything you may desire."

Cole jumped at the chance. "I wish to be free from my evil side!" The man smiled and started to glow red. "Your wish is...GRANTED." The man turned red, and then in a flash of light, he was back to normal. "There you have it." Cole looked at himself. He tried using electricity. It was all blue. There was no voice in his head. It was...gone. "It worked?" Cole was shocked. "Indeed it did." The man answered. "Thank you, Mr. Uh, what's your name?"

"Dr. Ospylac." The man answered. "But what did you do with the evil?" Then a silence. Dr. Ospylac started grinning. Then laughing. "Well, Cole, if you thought he was bad inside your head, you're going to have one hell of a time dealing with him as a separate person." Cole realized his mistake. "No! That's not what I wished for!" The doctor was consumed by a vortex of fire while laughing to himself. Cole looked around. He looked fine. The electricity coming out of his hands was purely blue. He was free. But not too far away, was his clone. His exact opposite. Every negative emotion, every harboured hatred, it had all manifested itself into one, brand new, Evil Cole.

Cole readied himself for a fight with his doppelganger, only for him to raise his hands. "Nah. Not right now. Sometime soon, yeah, but not right now." With that, he was gone. Cole stared at the remanants of New Marais. He didn't have much time before the military got here and decided he needed to be shot a million times.

* * *

"So I went into hiding for a few years, until I found the evil half of me in Seattle. That was where I first met you and the All-Stars." Cole explained. Delsin was stunned. "I don't mean to take a jab at you or anything, but, you seem pretty cool about the whole thing." Cole laughed. "Why shouldn't I be? The past is in the past. I can grieve over it all I like, and yeah, sometimes, it does hurt. But I'm as good as dead if I don't move on." Delsin took it all on board. "I think we're about to get back underway." Cole pointed to the arena as the two fighters re-emerged from the smoke.

"Level One!"

Zeus and Mr. Ash both got up at the same time with different tactics. Level three was the only level good enough for Zeus, but Mr. Ash knew he probably wouldn't get a chance to get to Level three, and so he decided to use it, but not right away. He rolled away from Zeus who was charging a lightning bolt. Zeus barely missed him, but that miss cost him. Mr. Ash threw a freeze missile at him, which encased him in ice and slowed his movements down to a trickle. Mr. Ash ran up to him and used his Level one. He stood back as Black appeared and swallowed up Zeus. The king of gods exploded into shapes and reappeared at the other end of the stage. First blood to Mr. Ash.

"So much for the king of gods!" Mr. Ash taunted. Zeus didn't answer. He threw another lightning bolt at Ash, who simply folded his arms. Zeus gained AP, but Mr. Ash killed off any chances he had of gaining early momentum. Zeus teleported over to Mr. Ash, launching a punch at him. Mr. Ash ducked and proceded to tackle Zeus to the ground. He jumped up and then slammed into the king of gods, gaining more AP for himself. Zeus picked himself up and launched another punch at Mr. Ash. He got the punch in just in time, enough to send him flying across the stage. He quickly teleported over, and slammed an electric fist into Ash's gut. "Level Two!" The announcer boomed. Zeus laughed. It was only a matter of time before the puny mortal was reminded of his place. Mr. Ash got up and quickly set about trying to get to another Level one before Zeus could reach Level three.

Zeus watched as Mr. Ash went in for a kick, only to be blasted away by lightning which Zeus called down on himself. He quickly threw a bolt into the air, hitting Mr. Ash and stopping him mid air. Then Zeus jumped up with an electric uppercut, sending Mr. Ash further into the air. When he finally came down, unable to retalliate, Zeus stomped on him, kocking him back further. Mr. Ash looked drained. "What did you expect when you came up against me?" Zeus quizzed him. "At least now you will learn the follies of such thinking." He threw another lightning bolt at Ash, genreating more AP. Mr. Ash go to his feet and deployed another tri-gun. This time, he managed to get some hits in and generate some more AP for himself. But it was a small sacrifice to make as Zeus braved the hail of bullets to land a decisive punch.

"LEVEL THREE!"

Zeus laughed as the stage shifted from the crystal arena to Mt. Olympus. Mr. Ash looked around wondering where the hell he was, before he was crushed by Zeus. He respawned, still on the mountain. He saw Zeus towering over him and realized he needed to burn as much time as was possible. He looked around. It looked to be much easier said than done. He barely avoided Zeus' second attempt at crushing him, but he only prolonged the inevitable as he was ground into fine dust by the third attempt. Then the arena returned to normal. Advantage Zeus. Mr. Ash respawned knowing that his margin for error was virtually non-existant at this point. He quickly launched a freeze missile at Zeus, who was busy dusting himself off. Now he had a chance to gain some serious AP. He threw a crushed up scrap car at Zeus hitting him for plenty of AP. He then placed an exploding barrel by Zeus and tackled it. Zeus felt the full power of the blast as the freeze missile wore off and he was sent flying.

"Level one!" The annoucer called out. Zeus quickly fired a lightning bolt at Mr. Ash, only to have it destroy a tri-gun. "It's a good fighting style, old man!" Mr. Ash smiled as he jumped towards Zeus. "But it's predictable." He then tackled another exploding barrel in front of Zeus. The king of gods managed to teleport out of the way of the barrel just in time though. He launched a lightning punch at Mr. Ash again, knocking him against a wall. As Zeus got over to Mr. Ash again, the darkside driver picked up the king of gods and tossed him into the air. Then he activated his Level one. Zeus landed just in time for Black to make him explode into blue shapes again, now having tied up the game. He was close to a Level one again, but so was Zeus. "This has gone far enough!" Zeus bellowed as he launched another lightning bolt. Mr. Ash jumped out of the way, only to have Zeus teleport over to him and uppercut him into the air. "Level one!" Mr. Ash knew now that he had to be extremely cautious. One wrong move or one slip would cost him dearly.

He fired a flamethrower at Zeus, which thankfully earned him enough AP to get a "Level one!" from the announcer. But he wasn't done yet. Zeus managed to blindside him and land an electric knucle to the side of the head. "Enough!" Zeus boomed as he clapped his hands together creating a shockwave. Then Mr. Ash disappeared. "That trick isn't so impressive. I mean, I learned how to do it without problems." Zeus turned around only for Mr. Ash to hit him with a freeze missile. Then he threw another crushed up scrap car at Zeus, followed by tackling him in the air. Then he slammed Zeus into the ground. "Level Two!" Mr. Ash smiled. He used his Level two, appearing in Darkside at the far end of the stage. "It's good to be back behind the wheel." He said to himself as he revved the engine, charging for Zeus. Zeus could only watch as the truck made him explode into tiny shapes for the third and last time.

"Victory!" The announcer cheered as Zeus slapped the camera away and Mr. Ash petted Black, which the wish granting demon didn't appreciate.

The arena returned to normal as the small crowd was speechless. "How could this be?!" Zeus demanded. "I am a god!" Mr. Ash finally had him where he wanted him. "You may be a god in whatever fantasy bullshit universe you come from, but get this. Here, you're just like the rest of us. Now, I didn't ask for any of this, and I'm not exactly having a blast here myself, but I suggest you shut the fuck up with this god complex, or else the next time I kick your ass, All-Star power won't be there to save you!" He walked off, satisfied with his work.

Zeus stormed off, furious and humiliated. Kratos didn't show any signs of surprise. "Get a load of that, cupcake. Dad wasn't good enough for Darkside." Sweet Tooth taunted. "I care little for Zeus' incompetence and pride. I just wish it were me who had the chance to humiliate him like that." Sweet Tooth laughed. "I can't imagine how disappointed Zeus must be with you." Kratos punched him. "Ow. Meanie." Sweet Tooth grumbled, holding his nose.

* * *

"Where are you taking us, Marston?" Edward Kenway asked. "We're almost there" John said, looking onto the horizon. He looked up and noticed a familiar bridge. 'Nuevo Paraiso' the sign read. "We're here!" John announced. Shortly, the Jackdaw was docked, and John was whistling for his horse. The horse just came from nowhere to John's side. "When did you get time to bring your horse here?" Kenway asked. "I didn't. This thing follows me everywhere, with no exceptions."

"So why are we here?" Geralt asked. "And why did you bring us along?" John turned to the witcher. "An old friend of mine, I was wondering to myself if he could do us some favours. I brought you guys along in case there are any complications." Geralt still wasn't satisfied. "If he's such a good friend, then why would there be any complications?" John wasn't as comfortable answering that question. "Well, I don't really know that much, 'cause I haven't been to Mexico in three years, but word has it that he's become a little too comfortable with power." Geralt was confused, but said nothing. "Who is this 'old friend' of yours?" Kenway asked. "You'll know him when you see him." Shortly afterwards, a grand palace came into view. The mexican flag flying proudly above it. John, Edward and Geralt arrived at the front gate, before encountering two guards. They aimed their guns at him. "What is your business here?" One of them asked. "A message for El Presidente. Tell him that old son of a bitch John Marston is here to see him."

The guards ordered another soldier to deliver the message. Minutes later, he was back at the gate. "Presidente Reyes wishes to see you."

It had been a while since John Marston had seen Abraham Reyes. Back then he was just a rebel leader who no one really thought anything of. But John changed all of that. Along with Reyes and his men, he overthrew the government and instilled Reyes as president. That was when he was hunting down his old gang members. Reyes had always been a close friend, but there were things about him that weren't good leadership qualities. He was incredibly racist for one, refusing to pay chinese workers because he believed them to be of an inferior race. He was also a loose cannon. He didn't really listen to anybody except himself.. But still, he was a good leader and all, incredibly charismatic and everything, and above all else, he was a decent, mostly down to earth person despite his glaring flaws. It was also pretty handy for John to have the government of Mexico on his side.

Reyes was up out of his seat when John and co. came into his office. "John Marston!" He greeted his old friend, shaking his hand. "Rumor had it that you were dead!" John looked at him funny, but just shrugged it off. After everything that had happened, it was probably for the better that people thought that. "People told me you were a tyrant gone mad too, just goes to show seeing is believing." John answered. "And who are these two?" Reyes asked. "This is Edward Kenway, captain in the royal navy, and this is Geralt, an old acquaintence of mine." John explained. "I see. But tell me John, what brings you here?" He asked. "Well, that's a long story." John told him. "I have plenty of time. Please, I am interested to know what you've been up to recently."

So John explained everything to Reyes, from Edgar Ross returning to the Playstaion All-Stars. Reyes just sat there and listened intently. "So, whaddya say, Mr. President, can ya help us out?" John asked at the end of it all. "I will see what I can do." Reyes answered.

Later, as one of the ships from the Egg Fleet picked up the Jackdaw and carried it back to the carrier, Eggman had come along. It was only thanks to him after all, that John had been able to see Reyes. "What's the idea of taking one of my ships to go off on a long and meaningless journey to the desert? I don't believe you! There's no way you would have gone through all that trouble. So let me ask again; What did you borrow the ship for?" John smiled.

"You'll see soon enough."

 ** _Author's Note_**

So John Marston has come up with a plan, but what for? Zeus has also been taken down a peg, but will it be enough to keep his ego in check? I don't really know. I know the good ending in Infamous 2 is cannon, but I think the evil ending works better. Also assuming good ending is canon in Second Son, not that it's much of a mystery. I don't think Cole would brush off the events of the evil ending quite like that, but I don't think he'd let it get him down either.

Anyway, much less exposition next time, more missions. Is the Master Emerald really somewhere in Angel City? Find out! Thanks for reading, and until next time!


	28. Angels of Death

**Just a heads up** Things get much more grotesque and distrubing in this chapter, especially towards the end. You probably don't care if you read this much, but then again, just a heads up.

Zeus, Kat, Deadpool, Mr. Ash and Delsin watched on in amazement. When they arrived at Silent Hill, the whole town wanted to attack them. Now, as Pyramid Head lead the way, they hadn't seen anything even try to look at them the wrong way. Anything that did try to provide resistance was punished in...graphic ways. None of them really wanted to think about that. But eventually, Pyramid Head lead them to an old dirty boat. They all knew the plan.

Go to Angel City, retrieve the Master Emerald, and bring it back to Silent Hill. Then go back to the landing zone, contact the PS Airship, and that was it. The boat had enough space for them all, no one was really complaining. "Uh, well, thanks for the boat, I guess." Mr. Ash still wasn't used to talking to Pyramid Head. The self appointed town mayor grunted in response and disappeared back into the fog, dragging his massive knife behind him.

The motor revved into life. Then there was a loud 'BANG!' "Shit. Sorry about that. I'll just be a second." He wasn't lying. Within a few minutes, the boat was back in gear. "Alrighty, let's get this show on the road. Zeus, gonna need you to watch ahead. This thing has no light, so I need you to keep ahead." Zeus nodded. "Understood." He turned into an eagle and stayed ahead of the boat. As it turned out, Zeus had come around to the idea of being on a level playing field with the rest of the All-Stars. He wasn't thrilled about it, but he would accept it for the time being. Mr. Ash took charge of captaining the boat. "No fair! I wanna be captain!" Deadpool rushed to the wheel, trying to pry it away from Mr. Ash. "No, absolutely not!" Mr. Ash slapped him. "I'm steering this boat"

Then the boat was lifted into the air. "What the hell?!" Mr. Ash demanded. Delsin looked out over the side of the boat. Kat was using her gravity powers to carry the boat. "Hold on!" She called out. Then the boat took off. Delsin flew backwards against the stern of the boat. Ahead of him, poor Zeus barely had time to get out of the way as the boat as it steamed ahead. Deadpool and Mr. Ash both grabbed hold of the wheel, but had very different reactions.

Deadpool was enjoying himself. "WHEEEEE!!!!!!" He cheered. Mr. Ash was quite upset. "NO, THIS IS A STEALTH MISSION!!!!!" He yelled. "YOU'RE DOING IT ALL WRONG!!!!!!!"

Delsin thought about Kat. She was...a little odd, to be perfectly honest. Her appearance matched that aspect of her. She dressed like she forgot to put half her clothes on, for a start. She looked nice though. She had fair brown skin, long blonde hair, and red eyes. She claimed they were naturally red, and Delsin couldn't come up with any other explanation. Being a conduit didn't give him red eyes. Her french accent meant Delsin sometimes had trouble understanding her. She always said his name as "Dehlzeen." But she was earnest and hardworking. Delsin barely knew her, but that was the impression he got. Quite chipper as well, and much like an actual cat, pretty easily distracted. But still, she showed so much unbridled attention to him whenever he spoke. Why? Delsin barely knew the girl, and yet she sparked so much curiosity inside of him. How the hell could anyone be that upbeat all the time? Sure, he had seen her story once, but he didn't really pay attention. He just tried to humour her, but now he wanted to know, what made her tick?

Then the boat gently lowered itself back into the water. "What sorcery is that?!" Zeus demanded. "You nearly took my head off my shoulders with that!" Kat awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. "Oops. Eh he he...he. Sorry." Mr. Ash just sighed. "Fine. Just, don't do that again." Deadpool was disappointed that they wouldn't get to do it again, but everyone ignored him. "I gotta admit, that was a pretty neat trick." Delsin admitted.

Kat looked at Delsin. He dressed like an average street punk and behaved like one too. But he shut himself away from everyone else all the time. He didn't appear to be the quiet type. Even seeing him during the meeting, there was nothing on his mind he didn't talk about, and he certainly wasn't afraid to stand up for himself. She enjoyed listening to him talk about how he got where he was, and she knew that he enjoyed it too, though he wouldn't admit it. Hearing the first part really sparked curiousity inside her. She really wanted to know what made him tick.

"There it is." Angel City came into view. There was more to the island than the city though. The high-rise buildings in the foreground were most noticable, but there was a much larger jungle behind the city. It looked fantastic. The All-Stars were speechless. Except for Zeus. "I've seen better." He said. Then he turned back into an eagle and flew up to the floating city. Kat carried the other three up. "Okay guys, this is serious. We need to be dilligent. We don't know who could possibly be here." The city was populated alright, very heavily populated. It was a good thing the All-Stars stood out as much as they did, or they may have gotten lost. Well, they got lost anyway.

Mr. Ash looked over his shoulder for the other All-Stars. "Guys?" They were gone. "Where the hell did you go?" He asked to no one in particular. Delsin was still there. "I think Zeus is over there." Delsin pointed to a nearby crowd. Zeus had found a man performing feats of 'unimaginable' strength. "Shit." Mr. Ash said to himself. "You see, this is the mark of a true warrior!" Zeus explained. The man had been lifting weights with one hand, only for Zeus to put him to shame by crushing them in one hand. Mr. Ash grabbed him as the crowd erupted into a wild applause. "What the hell are you doing?!" Mr. Ash hissed. "That puny mortal needed to be taught a lesson." Zeus explained. "Can't you just leave it go?" He asked. "Very well. I concede that I have acted irrationally." Zeus conceded. "Great, just wait here while I get the others." He went off looking for the rest of them. Deadpool had found a breakdancing competition and was stealing the show. "Woo!" Deadpool wiped sweat off his forehead. (His wetsuits forehead, strangely.) "What do you think?" He asked eagerly. "I'd prefer it if we looked for the master emerald." Mr. Ash responded. "Fine." Deadpool moaned. "I'll go look for the magic crystal."

Kat was stuffing her face with whatever ungodly foods were being prepared at the nearby stalls. They were ungodly to Mr. Ash anyway. Kat was enjoying herself. She managed to get everything all over her face, and somehow all over about eleven other people as well. Mr. Ash stared as she wolfed down the whole thing. She finally noticed him. "Oh, did you want some, Mr. Ash?" She asked. "No." He replied sternly. "Oh. The Master Emerald. Right. Sorry." Mr. Ash sighed. "Fine, let's just go and get the damn emerald."

So with everyone assembled, the All-Stars began searching for the Master Emerald. "Y'know something? I think it could be in that jungle." Delsin suggested. Mr. Ash agreed. "Yeah, but it's gonna be tough to get in there unnoticed."

There was something about that jungle anyway. Angel City was huge, but the city somehow felt bigger and bigger as they approached the jungle. Probably because other people became a rarer and rarer sight. Then, they heard a siren. "Attention all citizens!" It blared. "This is a message from your leader William Sparks. Get inside and lock your doors and windows. There are dangerous individuals on the run, and it is advised that you do not try to stop them yourself." Mr. Ash turned to the group. "That's our signal to get our asses into gear! Move!" He ordered. No one really questioned him. They ran for quite sometime, without encountering anybody. Until they reached a street which led into the jungle. One long, wide, empty street between them and potentially, the Master Emerald. Until they heard a voice.

"That's as far as you'll go." They froze and turned around. Evil Cole was grinning to himself as electricity passed through his arms. "So you followed us here?" Delsin sighed. "Well, it shouldn't be too much trouble." Evil Cole smiled. "Actually, I think the story is the other way around. You followed us out here." Delsin was confused, until he saw DUP soldiers pour out into the street ahead of them. "What? We fell for a trap?!" Brooke Augustine walked through the crowds towards the group. "Correct." Then she raised her hand. "Open fire!" She commanded the soldiers. "Run!" Mr. Ash ordered. They ran through the streets looking for a way out. Deadpool didn't agree with those tactics, and so he took out his minigun and opened fire on the DUP troops. "You guys go look for a boat!" He told them over the roar of the minigun. "And don't forget to come back for me!" He added as one soldier got a bit too close.

"Great!" Mr. Ash laughed. "That's a lot less work for us." Then he was hit with a blast of dark energy. Gigadis and Calaca stood there, Gigadis dusting off his hands. "What?!" Mr. Ash got to his feet. "You're not getting away from here, Mr. Ash!" Gigadis laughed. "But now, this is where the road ends." Mr. Ash looked at the other three. "You guys go ahead!" He ordered as he readied his own dark energy. The other three kept running until Zeus was hit. "Gah!" Zeus was pounded into the street by a a powerful brine. Delsin found himself on the receiving end too, as well as Kat. The brine was like a hail of bullets, unbearably strong. "ENOUGH!" Zeus bellowed. "I shall not tolerate this mockery from you, Poseidon!" He turned to his brother and fired a thunderbolt. Poseidon blocked with a blast of water, then Zeus called down a bolt of lightning on Poseidon, this time with success. Poseidon lit up like a firework, but he wasn't done yet. Delsin and Kat ran for a bit, until they lost seemingly every enemy. "I think we lost 'em all." Delsin said, looking back. It was unusually quiet. Just as Kat had suspected, there was an attack intended for her. But it was powerful. A torpedo shot at her at blinding speeds, knocking her down a street. "Shit!" Delsin swung at it with his chain. The torpedo fell to the ground unfurled. Madfang Ragewolf. "Gah! That coward uberhero and his gang didn't bother to turn up. I guess I'll have to make do with you." Ragewolf slashed at Delsin, who got a smoke chain up just in time to block.

Kat flew back in with a gravity kick to Ragewolf's head. He went flying and was holding his head. "Ugh. No fair." He whined. "Now let's see how good you are without your cat." he whistled, and within a few seconds, Storm Eagle came swooping in with Chill Penguin. The penguin landed pefectly on his stomach and slid down the street. He aimed a gun built into his flipper and fired. Dusty was frozen and swooped away by the penguin. "Dusty!" Kat cried out. Then Chill Penguin turned and fired again. Kat braced herself for the impact, but it never came. Delsin had shielded her, and it took its toll on him. "Gngh! Don't worry about me! Just get the hell away from here!" He ordered. "Bu-" Kat tried to protest. "But nothing! If you don't get away, you'll be killed! Now go!" Kat ran. Didn't really know where she was going, just away from there. As she approached the boundaries of the city, looking into the vast ocean which was being stirred up by Poseidon to prevent their escape, Kat was hit. It was Evil Cole. He held up his trident and hit her again. Kat ignored the pain and looked for somewhere else to run.

"Come on! You're not even gonna fight?" Kat ignored him. "Weak!" As she turned the corner, Evil Cole fired at the building. Some of the bricks hit her, but she still had to keep going. Evil Cole was still giving chase though. Then Kat thought of something. Ignoring her pain, she picked up a few bricks and waited for Evil Cole to turn the corner. He was hell bent on getting her, or just anyone he could, at that moment. He didn't see her hiding behind a the rubble, and he was certainly caught off guard when she hit him in the head with a perfectly timed shot. "AH! Son of a bitch!" Evil Cole glared. Kat threw another one, and another one, forcing him to back up closer to the railing every time. He turned his back to shield his eyes, and that was when Kat saw his amp resting on his back. She picked up the amp and swung at him with it. Evil Cole felt it as the blow was enough to push him over the railing and into the ocean. As he tried to muster enough momentum to get back up, Kat threw the amp down, hitting him in the head, and knocking him out. He fell to the ocean wordlessly, then followed by a show of red electricity sparking throughout the ocean for a few seconds before he was confirmed as dead. Kat sighed with relief. Then she noticed the waters were calm again. Maybe Poseidon had been calmed? Maybe. She needed to see the other All-Stars first though. That was when the ground exploded beneath her. Immediately, Kat grabbed hold of the ground in front of her with both hands, leaving her precariously dangling above the ocean. Kat looked down. She wasn't scared of heights in the slightest, no, being the Gravity Queen certainly helped her in that regard. But that drop didn't really look all that inviting to her. The rock started to crumble a bit. With everyone still on the island, including Dusty, she had to hold on. She was hurt badly though. She felt broken and bruised, and a quick body inspection would probably reveal much worse. But right now, worse was to come. Kat tensed up as Brooke Augustine came into view. She was holding a cat in her arms.

"Dusty!" Kat called out. The cat meowed and continued to scratch Augustine. "Looking for him? I'm sorry, but I can't let you walk away from here, with or without that cat." Kat braced herself. Her hands were in for hell, but she would hold on. Augustine took notice and laughed. "You think I'm just going to stand on your fingers?" She laughed. "I'm afraid I have much more effective techniques." Kat was nervous. What could she mean by- "AAAAAAH!" Kat screamed as an awful pain came to her legs. There was something sharp and painful sticking out of them, working its way up her body, making her feel heavy, and immobilizing her. They were concrete shrapnels. Augustine laughed. "I'm told that hurts." She said as the shrapnels worked their way up Kat's torso. They had worked their way halfway up her arms before her weight became too much for Kat to support. She was forced to let go, and watched as Angel City rapidly grew smaller and smaller, as the realization that she was going to die really sunk in. She hit the water with a satisfying slap but there was no way up for her. She was drowning. She was in full blown panic. She cried out for help, but only wasted her breath. She sunk like a stone, flailing her half encased arms as the light from the surface was further and further away. She eventually breathed her last breath, and with a cloud of bubbles, she closed her eyes for the last time. Then a portal opened up behind her. Not that she saw it, but it was a red portal, encased by flames, even this far down into the ocean. It swallowed her and disappeared.

"Well done, gentlemen." Calypso congratulated them. "I sorely underestimated your ability, but, a deal is a deal. I give you the underworld to rule over." Gigadis and Calaca were off. Calypso didn't really care much about that anymore. As long as he got to keep his realm, he was happy. That CJ had made off with his painting right under his nose, but that didn't matter. It's not like anyone would ever want to set foot in that place. Which reminded him. Some of the All-Stars would be waking up soon. Better go and see them. He wanted to see how strong their spirits were before he broke them.

Kat tossed and turned in her sleep. She was having a bad dream. Somehow, about her death. It was incredibly vivid, everything from the chaos was captured. The screaming and destruction especially. She woke up. She felt awful though. She was soaking wet, still badly beaten up, and had to cough up water from her lungs. Dusty was nowhere to be seen. At least the concrete shrapnels were gone. Those were the worst, and Kat was relieved she could move again. She could hear noises, none of them pleasant. Screaming, and people banging on walls. There was fire too. She was in a room lying face down on the floor. A padded room. Kat was confused, and tried to move her arms, but to no avail. "Huh?" She used her legs to move onto her knees. She was wearing a straight jacket. "What?!" She tried to shake it off, but to no avail. Now it was time to panic again. Kat quickly got to her feet to look out the only window in the entire room. It was barred with crooked bars and small, but thankfully so. What was out there was scarring. She wasn't alone. That was where the screaming and pounding came from. Row after row of identical small barred windows all with people pounding at the bars while wailing to be freed. The rows stretched as far as Kat could see, and below her, smoke rose from a pit of fire. At the end of the rows were coffins with spikes being lowered on chains into the pits. One name was consistently screamed throughout all this. Calypso. Kat remembered him, the sinister business man, who she now knew had more to him than just that.

Some of the people looked like they had been there for years, decomposing and riddled with holes from the coffins. Some had been starved to the point where Kat could see their bones. Some were missing eyes and ears, some dangling from their sockets. Kat was overcome with fear. Dusty was gone, so were the All-Stars, and she knew no-one here. Those people screaming to be freed weren't helpful, and for all she knew, she could be here forever. It was the most terrified and helpless she had ever felt, and seeing those people and what Calypso had done to them was the tipping point.

She threw up everything she had in her and still gagging fell to the ground beside the pool and watched as the only light source in the room, a single light bulb, dangled from left to right. She felt tears well up in her eyes. Doomed. No way out this time. "Awwww. How sad. Little kitty is scared." It said. Calypso. Kat turned to the business man. He chuckled. "Are you disappointed? Have I not made it gruesome enough? Any criticism is appreciated." Kat slowly and shakily got to her knees, and then her feet. "What the fuck is this place?!" She demanded. Calypso cringed and turned away. "Tut, tut, tut. How uncouth. Swearing really doesn't suit a pretty young lady such as yourself. But I may as well tell you, as you'll be staying here for quite some time. This is my realm. You can call it hell. I call it paradise." Kat froze up. "Wh-what?! No! You can't do this to me!" Kat yelled. "Guess what? I have." Calypso chuckled. "You sound just like all the others. But there's something about you, something about you...so...special." He whispered into her ear. "I think I'll quite enjoy breaking you down." Kat had enough. She bit his ear and tried pulling it off. She didn't care how barbaric it was, she just wanted to get away. Calypso winded her and she released. He didn't show any disappointment though. In fact, he was still smiling. "I knew it. So few people have had that much fight." He said, brushing his surprisingly unscathed ear. Don't worry about company either, all those other scourges are here as well." Kat slowly got to her feet once more. "Th-they-they're h-h-here?" She asked, sniffling. "Yes. If memory serves correctly, they shouldn't be too far away either. Just thought I'd let you know. Your cat is fine too, although he's got quite a temper. I'm keeping him alive and well, if that's anything to you, and...oh." He noticed the puke in the middle of the floor. "Not a good idea. We don't have cleaning staff." Then he started to glow red. His eyes turned the colour too and the eerie grin on his face turned to a twisted smile. "Forgive me, I love doing this." Then his voice turned demonic. "KAT, YOUR FATE HAS BEEN DECIDED; EVERLASTING DAMNATION FOR YOUR SINS!" He cackled and was gone. Kat ran to the window. "Help! Somebody! Anybody!" She wailed. "Please! Get me out of here!"

Calypso was already listening to the cries on his radio. He smiled. "Perfect."

 ** _Author's Note_**

Well...I told you it would be dark. It was even sort of uncomfortable to write. But it's sort of why I chose TM

2012 Calypso over the others.

He wasn't taken down, for a start. Every other Calypso was, except for TMIII, which I consider to be the original Calypso, who was brought down numerous times.

Calypso is also much more malevolent than in the other games, given that TM: Black takes place inside Sweet Tooth's head.

I think what stands out for me is the preacher. He is shown as the closest anyone has been to stopping Calypso, and even then he is powerless by comparison. The fact that he keeps them trapped after he has killed them was what made him better as well. No other Calypso went that far. I also like that he's more mysterious. Sure, we know he's the devil, but his motives for Twisted Metal and everything else are never clear. I like that, I want to know more about him, and I think that's what made him the Calypso I chose.

Also, on the subject of TM, I know Sweet Tooth is the name of the vehicle, not the driver, but it makes me wonder why none of the other characters were that easily mistaken.

This is also the only time I intend to have Kat swear. Just personally, there are some characters that it would be incredibly uncharacteristic for, whereas for others, it's practiacally the backbone of their character.

So yeah, way, way, WAY, darker than what I usually do, but it's Calypso.

So thanks for reading anyway, hope you...were intrigued.

Until Next Time!

P.S. I know I'm a tad late to the party, but I just recently heard about the 4chan leaks. So I thought I'd give my ideal roster given the supposed information from the includes everal supposedly confirmed characters and no Konami characters. (No PH :'( Very sad.)

But you're gonna have to wait until next time for that! Why? 'Cause it's 2am and I don't feel like it. Ideal time for uploading, and not much else, I'm afraid.


	29. Inside Thoughts

Cloud looked at the Buster Sword intently. "I wonder if Sephiroth is there?" He asked himself. "Am I finally going to get a chance at revenge? Am I up to it?" He shook his head. "That's a stupid question. Of course I'm up for it." Then there was a knock on the door. It was one of Kutaragi's soldiers. "Letter for you, Cloud." He said, before he was on his way. Cloud was confused. "Wonder who it could be?" Well. As far as Cloud was concerned, whoever it was was going to have to wait. Currently, he, along with some other All-Stars were off to San Francisco. Why? To attack Polygon Man, that's why. The idea was that if the All-Stars could sufficiently remove Polygon Man's influence, or just in general do enough to piss him off, then they might figure out a way to Polygon Man.

"What's that letter, Cloud?" Dart asked. Cloud shrugged. "I don't know. It's not important, I guess. We've got more pressing issues to deal with." Dart agreed. "Don't even know what to expect on this escapade." He went on. "But, I guess it's gonna be tough, whatever could need so many of us to go there at once." Cloud shrugged. "Personally, I think it'll be more interesting to see how the other All-Stars fight. I wanna see how capable they are." Dart agreed. He had seen some of the All-Stars fight, but very few of them were here on the ship with him. He obviously knew how Cloud was going to fight, as well as Nathan Hale and the Chimera. The sniper ws there too, Dart forgot her name. He also briefly saw Sweet Tooth fighting against Mr. Ash, who wasn't here. The only one he fought against was the purple dragon. Spyro, Dart remembered, was his name. He was tough. Dart overcame him in the end, but Spyro didn't make it easy. "Yeah, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. They seem pretty capable." Cloud nodded before looking out of a window. "Another night here?" He sighed. "Oh well, as long as we actually get there in the end, I guess I can't complain."

* * *

"So why didn't you let her stay?" Danner asked. "There was only a small chance it would actually work. There were dozens more just like her they had all tried. They didn't survive the operations." Joel explained. "I see, but this kid...well, I understand if you got attached and all, but why not just let her go?" Joel threw down some pictures he produced from his pockets. "This is why." He sounded extremely remorseful. He immediately got up and left the room. Danner looked at the pictures.. "Can you tell me anything about these pictures, BlackJack?" He asked, scanning them. "Let's see. Sarah Miller. Born 23rd of June, 2001. Died 27th September, 2013. Cause of death: Shot." BlackJack read out. It didn't take long for Jacket to put the pieces together. This girl was his daughter, and he saw Ellie as...not a replacement. The real thing. His daughter. He wondered if Ellie knew that. Better go and find out. "I don't want any smart ass comments from you either." He told BlackJack. The arms dealer said nothing.

Not long after, he found Ellie. "Hey kid." He said. "What?" She asked, her voice packed with venom. He said nothing and handed Ellie a picture of Sarah. She handed it back. "I've seen it." She said. "Y'know he really-" "I know!" She snapped. "I don't give a shit!" Danner looked around. No one, thank God. "Well, can't you forgive a man for that?" Danner asked. "No! Now fuck off!" Danner raised his hands and slowly backed away. "Well?" BlackJack asked. "Not good. I don't think anyone's ever getting through to her."

* * *

Eggman drummed his fingers on the Egg Mobile. He still didn't understand Kutaragi fully, and he was beginning to wonder if he ever would. At least his ship hadn't caught fire yet. The roster seemed impractical. Pairing rapping 2d dogs and talking cats with mass murderers and beings capable of destroying worlds didn't make a lot of sense to him. At least he knew Shadow and Omega. They fit the bill for All-Stars at least. But what about the villains? They seemed disfunctional, but they much better fit the bill for what Polygon Man was trying to do. They came together on ceratin things, like hating the All-Stars, or wanting revenge. He thought about Metal for a second. He knew he worked for Polygon Man. How was that working out for him?

There were just under thirty All-Stars on board the small ship, as Eggman insisted on filling up all the other ships in the fleet with his badniks. Kratos had threatened him before they left, but Eggman didn't relly care what he thought. Nariko managed to keep him under control and get him on board the ship, so Eggman assumed he calmed down. The chance to exert the power of the Eggman empire was the only thing keeping him awake. He wouldn't be alone with the All-Stars, there was this other guy, Eugene Simms who had an army of his own ready to strike. He knew what to expect in the battle, and how to deal with it. Kutaragi told him they had no time to lose, and so any explanations to the All-Stars were cut out. Kutaragi insisted they'd be fine anyway. They would find out if that was true in a few hours, when the battle begun.

* * *

Aiden looked over at Jacket. The masked murderer was going through his masks, explaining to Aiden what each one did, one by one. Aiden was able to profile him, and find out everything about him. Not about his masks though. Richard Keys, a Florida native, had a fairly uneventful life until in the mid 1980's where he went to Hawaii to fight in a war against the USSR. In a mission to take over a nuclear reactor held by the Soviets, Keys was injured severely as the reactor blew up. This contributed to several supposed illnesses he had, although doctors could never find any hard evidence of the illnesses from scans or blood tests. The symptoms were there though. Keys settled in Miami after returning from war, despite the city being heavily influenced by russian mafia members. As it turns out, Keys shut himself away from the outside world, only for it to be uncovered in a 1991 trial that he had been going on a series of murderous rampages in the name of a neo-nationalist group 50 Blessings. No-one ever got the actual murder tally for Keys, but many estimate it to be well over one thousand. Keys pleaded guilty to all accounts and got life in prison. However, his sentence was cut short by the USSR who dropped an atom bomb on the city of Miami. Keys was never seen since, and was presumed dead.

"So all those masks give you different abilities?" Aiden asked, making sure to keep up with Jacket's droning on. "Sure do." Jacket answered. Aiden simply thought he was insane, but decided to humour him anyway. Jacket threw over a tiger mask, which Aiden put on. Nothing. He didn't feel stronger, grow a third limb, become more proficient with any of his weapons, nothing. He just looked stupid. He took the mask off and threw it back to Jacket. "Nothing man. I'm not convinced." Jacket scoffed and lay back against a pile of crates. "That's your problem then." He responded before yawning. "Looks like we'll be staying here for another night." He muttered to himself.

* * *

Sir Daniel was practicing his sword work with Raiden, barely managing to keep up. It was that blinding speed that he lost to when he first encountered Raiden, and now he was learning to beat it. But not right now. One mistimed slash was all it took for Raiden to send the Hero of Gallowmere's bones flying. Raiden then walked off. He encountered Kellan, Marston, Kenway, Sweet Tooth, Lara, all asleep. Well, maybe not Sweet Tooth but it was tough to tell, and staying to stare at him would've been unsettling. Then he found the storage were miscellaneous crates were kept. That was where he saw Cole MacGrath sitting on a crate inspecting his amp.

"Cole, you ok?" Raiden asked his old rival. "I'm worried about those kids. They've been gone for five days." Raiden normally would've told the person worrying to get a grip and move on, but this time was different. He knew Cole. He normally didn't sweat anything. Battling against him, and having lost to him the first time, that proved to Raiden that ice powers suited Cole. "I can't imagine the Master Emerald being too easy to find." Raiden suggested. "Maybe they're still looking for it." Cole looked at him. "Y'know something? You're probably right. Thanks for that." Cole got to his feet. "Don't bother." Raiden told him. "Looks like we're in for another night here." Cole looked out. It was starting to get dark outside. "I guess so. Hopefully we won't have to spend much more time here." Cole didn't have anything against Eggman, but the Doc really didn't plan for anyone to come on board this tiny ship. A lot of the All-Stars ended up sleeping on crates. Those things, Patapons, or whatever, slept inside the crates, not really caring what was in them. Raiden remembered Taterazay saying they had been through worse. Although, that was a pretty big claim, considering how they still had no idea what they were going to face in San Francisco.

* * *

"Where are they headed?" Metal asked. "San Francisco." Polygon Man answered. "Don't worry. We've got plenty of force there already." Metal shook his head. "That doesn't make any sense." Polygon Man was confused. "Why not just leave it all to Damien? He obviously knows what he's doing, he's competent, intelligent, got an incredible army, and he nullifies a lot of weapons the All-Stars can use." Polygon Man took the point. "Touchè" He said. "I'm still going there. You know I wouldn't trust them to do much before getting wiped out." Polygon Man was confused again. "I don't understand. Can't we just have them ressurected by Calypso? You do know that's a viable option, right?" He asked. "That's why I'm concerned. I don't trust him, and he feels the same." Polygon Man rolled his eyes. He understood that when he started gathering villains they wouldn't exactly be best friends, but now it was starting to get grating. "I mean, he's powerful and all, but, you know better than anybody. Power like that is tough to keep in check. He's self-serving, whether or not you want to admit it. Cunning and sinister. He, and he alone, is the reason I don't reveal my identity. If he were to find out who I was, well then, he would know what to expect if we ever fought. And the more predicatble you are, the easier you fall." Polygon Man had his opinion changed now. Metal was slightly unhinged. He was smart and calculated, and his thirst for revenge was legendary, and he didn't beat around the bush with it. No sir, if anything, he nuked the bush. But Metal was loyal. True to his word, after helping him get his revenge first, even after finding out Eggman, Shadow and Omega were still at large, Metal held true to his word of helping Polygon Man in the ridding of the All-Stars.

He wasn't very sociable, but at the same time, he commanded respect and didn't abuse that respect for his own personal gain. Metal was truly a diamond in the rough. A leader too. Not many of the villains would have said they liked Metal very much, but trust was much higher for Metal than Calypso. That was where the conversation started. "I know Calypso is the devil, more so than Gigadis or Calaca, but I've never seen where Calypso calls the underworld. I want you to take me there." Metal instructed. Polygon Man obliged. "Very well. I'll let you see it. You should be able to find your own way out from there." Metal nodded in understanding before All-Star power took him to Calypso's realm.

* * *

Jacket found himself in that room again. For the first time in ages. Where was 'that room', you ask? Well, everyone except Jacket insisted it was little more than a figment of Jacket's twisted and derranged mind, but Jacket himself knew better. Or at least, he claimed to. The room itself was a seedy place, crawling with cockroaches and littered with scattered remains of dead bodies. It smelled foul, and the whole place was covered in this murky black fog, making it tough to see. Jacket looked to his left. There was a man with his skull caved in, eyes glazed, doing nothing but gathering flies. "The fuck are you lookin' at?!" He demanded. Jacket said nothing and opened the door.

There was only one person sitting there. Three chairs, but only the one in front of him was occupied. The occupant wore a chicken mask, denim jeans, and a letterman jacket. Guess who else did that? The man's name was Richard, which was also Jacket's first name. Jacket only took his better known alias because that's what his victims called him. On second thought, maybe he was going completely bonkers, for a start, he didn't feel welcome here. But past experience here told him to wait, and he would be rewarded. "Welcome back." Richard greeted him. "I'd congratulate you on taking down 50 Blessings and getting the revenge which you so desperately crave, but you aren't really satisfied at all, are you?" Jacket shook his head. "I thought as much. Twisted bastards like you are never satisfied. Of course." Jacket glared at him for a few seconds before he spoke up again. "Now, I know what you're up to at the moment, so I figured I should give you some tips that might come in handy. But listen up! Because they're only coming once." Jacket listened. Richard had often provided helpful advice in the past, which Jacket didn't listen to. He wasn't making the same mistake twice.

"One! One of the All-Stars is not who he claims to be."

"Two! One of the villains is hiding something that would be of great help to you."

"Three! One of the All-Stars has something in his possession far more dangerous than anyone is prepared for. Avoid it at all costs."

"Four! The search for the Master Emerald had uncovered something much darker. Be prepared. It has a lot to do with the villains."

"Five! To find the Gateway to Polygon Man requires more than just good navigation. It requires a key."

"What kind of key?" Jacket asked. "The key has many forms." Richard answered. "One such form you should be able-" BOOM! "What?!" Jacket was knocked off his feet. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have." Richard got up from his chair to walk over to Jacket. "This may be the last time we meet. Good luck to you."

Jacket felt the world begin to melt again. What did it all mean?! Was he onto something now, or was he just completely insane? He was back in the real world, but everything was going to shit. "What happened?!" Jacket demanded. "This ship's going down!" Jak replied, getting ready to fight. "We need to get off this ship before it hits the ground!" Jacket got up quickly. Jak threw him a parachute. "The Doc told me to give you this." With that, he was off. Jacket made sure he had everything, and put the parachute on over his backpack. He rushed up to the top of the ship, finding it difficult to keep his footing without a landing deck. But Jacket didn't forget his days in the army, and in time, he was able to jump off and activate the parachute.

They were still quite some distance into the air, as Jacket soon found out. The skyline came into view below him before Jacket also noticed the gunfire and explosions. He barely managed to land on top of one of the buildings, before looking down and realized that the fight had been going on for quite some time without him. He took off his parachute and assessed the situation. He could take the stairs down, but that could take some time. Not to mention that he was a sitting duck so high up. He looked down below him. Surely a little free falling couldn't hurt? Before he had time to second guess himself, he jumped down off the building down to the streets below. "San Francisco, here I come!" He yelled.

 ** _Author's Note_**

I really liked Hotline Miami's story, it's something so surreal I couldn't help but laugh at some of Jacket's more outlandish moments as his perceptions of reality become increasingly bizzare because he employed his answering machine as his personal coach. Anyway, here's my wishlist roster for PSASBR2. (Assuming it's actually made and going off leaks.)

1\. Crash Bandicoot

2\. Knack

3\. Spyro The Dragon

4\. Kratos

5\. Nathan Drake

6\. Sackboy

7\. Jak Daxter

8\. Ratchet Clank

9\. Spike

10\. Parappa the Rapper

11\. Colonel Radec

12\. Chimera Hybrid

13\. Toro Inoue

14\. Cole MacGrath

15\. Sweet Tooth

16\. Mr. Ash

17\. Sly Cooper

18\. Kat

19\. Raven

20\. Heihachi Mishima

21\. Lara Croft

22\. Isaac Clarke

23\. Nariko

24\. Emmett Graves

25\. Sir Daniel Fortesque

26\. Dart Feld

27\. Abe

28\. Fat Princess

29\. Shadow the Hedgehog

30\. Zero

31\. John Marston

32\. Edward Kenway

33\. Iota/Atoi

34\. Nightmare

35\. Jacket

36\. Juan Aguacate

37\. Delsin Rowe

38\. Taterazay

39\. Aiden Pearce

40\. Zeus

I don't see Big Daddy or Dante returning, simply because I thought they were only in the first one to promote upcoming games.

Just a quick afterthought though, nothing too deep or well researched. Just something random, I found out Radec is supposed to be around 7' tall. Watching the rival cutscene with Sir Dan again, this means that Dan is about 7' 3" as a rough guess. No idea why I know this, but I found out anyway.

Until Next Time!


	30. Calypso's Realm

Mr. Ash woke up. Back here again? He didn't really care. Although he was concerned for those kids. Calypso couldn't really scare him, but there was no way they could have been prepared for anything he could do to them. "Alright Calypso! You wanna talk? I'm awake!" The man himself appeared before his most hated enemy. "Hi." Mr. Ash greeted. Calypso smiled. "Hello Ash. You love this place, don't you? You always give me a reason to put you back here." Mr. Ash had his cards ready to play. "You never gave me my wish." Calypso looked out of the cell window. "So?" He asked nonchalantly. "You lied to me earlier." Calypso sighed. "Oh dear. I guess I did. Whoops. What's your wish then?" Mr. Ash thought about it for a second. "I wish I could get out of this place." Calypso turned to him smiling.

"Granted."

The straight jacket fell off him. Mr. Ash moved his arms around a bit. "Bear in mind, you only-" "I know what I wished for, Calypso. My opportunity will come." Calypso chuckled. "What makes you think I'll let you get out of here so easily? In fact, I would say we have lost time to make up for, considering how prematurely you left last time." Mr. Ash smiled to himself as he remembered how furious Calypso was when he escaped the first time.

How are you going to get those others out?" Calypso asked. "Why the hell would I tell you?!" He demanded, slightly irritated as to why Calypso had the audacity to ask. "Well, I woke them up a few days ago." Mr. Ash realized what that meant. "Oh shit." He muttered. "Oh shit indeed." Calypso grinned from ear to ear as Mr. Ash put two and two together. "What did you do to them, Calypso?!" Mr. Ash demanded as he felt rage building inside him. "They fought like demons. They certainly didn't disappoint." Mr. Ash was just stunned. Even for Calypso. That was despicable. "Why them?" Mr. Ash was furious. "They're just kids. They barely even knew who you were!" Calypso laughed. "Because I know you won't try to escape without them. In the state they're in, escape is nigh on impossible!" Mr. Ash was prepared to launch a punch at Calypso, but he restrained himself. "It's a pity they can't be a part of my army, as All-Stars and everything. But hearing them cry and beg for mercy, oh, Ash, you have no idea how satisfying it is!" Mr. Ash lost his cool and tried to deliver an almighty punch to Calypso's head. The twisted metal host teleported out of the way of the punch as predicted, and laughing to himself, out of the cell. Mr. Ash managed to calm himself down. "Nah. They're probably fine. Calypso's just trying to draw a reaction out of me." Then he thought about it for a second. Maybe that was true. Maybe Calypso hadn't touched them, yet. But for how much longer would that be true?

Delsin struggled against the jacket with everything he had. Biting and thrashing did no good, and he couldn't activate his powers, the smoke clouds weren't close enough to reach. He couldn't reach his phone and even if he could, his phone probably had no signal. "Come on Delsin, think!" He gritted his teeth and remembered a technique he saw in a movie. He needed to dislocate his shoulder though. Delsin took a deep breath and tried. Unfortunately, all that happened was on the third time where he flung his right arm back over his head with a satisfying pop. Delsin cursed in pain and brought his arm back. "DAMNIT!" He yelled.

He sat back in defeat. What now? It had been four days. Four fucking days in this shithole. He couldn't think straight. That fucker Calypso... Delsin didn't know what to do anymore. He had made himself hoarse from screaming on the first day, the second day, and the third day. Crying for help was piss in the wind. Calypso enjoyed it too, which gave Delsin further reason to keep his mouth shut and bide his time. Wasn't that what Hank said once? 'A golden opportunity.' Well, Delsin hoped to God that the golden opportunity came sooner rather than later. He was starving too, he hadn't eaten in days, and his injuries weren't healing. Probably Calypso again.

Calypso sat at his desk listening to the radio with Dusty on his lap. The cat scratched and hissed at him, but Calypso didn't care. He was more concerned about the broadcast, which was quite concerning. Concerned to the point where not even winding up Ash was comforting. The UN, God knows how it survived, had called for an emergency summit and the Secretary General was speaking. "I have with me the results of our vote. Unanimously, the UN member nations have agreed that Calypso industries is an enemy of the world, and so there will be a massive concentrated effort by all members to bring William Calypso and his accomplices to justice." There was a loud applause. Calypso paused. Then a sickly grin forned in the side of his mouth. "So now they know? Well, well, well. How dissapointing it must be for them, to only realize the truth now." He chuckled. He threw the cat off his lap and clicked his fingers. A clap of lightning later, and he was home. Calypso's very own realm. Hell, one might call it.

But in this hell, Calypso didn't punish the wicked or sinful. oh no, instead, he used it as a stockade. All those who disagreed with him, or tried to bring him and Twisted Metal down, all those who died as a result of his contests, this was where they were sent. It kept them from blabbering about his contests to the government, which was very helpful. He also enjoyed hearing them scream and beg for mercy, that was ever so pleasant. The whole place had a horrible odour as well, but Calypso didn't care. He was currently in his own office high above the carnage he had created. "So now what?" Metal Sonic asked, disguised as Mr. Ash. Dusty was at his feet, scratching his legs. "You?!" Calypso jumped. He knew it wasn't Mr. Ash, he knew it was 'him', but once again, he had no idea who 'him' was. "How did you find this place?!" Metal shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I knew you had another dimension, so I asked Polygon Man to take me here, and he obliged. Now you answer your question. What are you going to do with this place?"

"Nothing." Calypso answered, peering out of the window onto the screaming souls of the damned. "I like it as it is. I guess I'll throw any other victims I find on the way in here too, up security and uh well...that's it." Metal raised his eyebrows. "Oh? That's all?"

Calypso turned to face him. "Yes. That's all. I'm very sorry to dissapoint you if you expected me to engulf the world in darkness!" Metal said nothing. "I didn't expect that, I fully believe you." Calypso glared at him. He sounded sincere, but Calypso could never bring himself to trust that guy. With that, he was gone, a flash of light, leaving Calypso alone in his realm.

Deadpool gracefully awoke from a peaceful slumber. "Ah! Refreshed and ready to- hold on." He noticed the straight jacket. "So they finally locked me up. Assholes." He said to himself. Then he went over to the barred window. He saw where he was. "Something here obviously isn't right." He said to himself, realizing the current situation. "These bars are crooked! Rusty too! I'll have to complain about this criminal lack of sanitation!" Then he remembered the straight jacket. Then the fact there was no door, and the fact that even if he got out, he could fall into the fire pits below.

Deadpool paced back and forth, wondering how he was going to get out of this predicament. "It looks like I may be in over my head here, but at least it only looks that way." Deadpool said to himself, before realizing. "Oh yeah! I can just break these off!" He said, looking at his arms. He unfortunately had none of his weapons, but he could still rely on hand to hand combat. Several excruciating minutes later, his arms came off. They fell to the floor with the straight jacket. Then Deadpool picked up one arm with his feet and popped it back into place. He did the same with the other, and so he was free again. "Ta-Da! Wasn't that something else?!" Deadpool bragged. "Now time to go home." He grabbed the bars of the cell and yanked. Without much resistance, the bars came flying off. Deadpool kept the bars for use as weapons and moved on. He crawled up the walls, coming face to face with some pretty stunned people. Deadpool ignored them and eventually heaved himself onto the top of the stockade. He looked around. To his left, a red fog obscured most things, but there was another stockade leading through the fog. To his right was a path leading up another stockade. Deadpool scratched his head. Straight in front of him was a tower. It was encased in red fog, but you could still see it, in all its towering glory.

Then, a loud bang. Deadpool looked down. There was a lot of smoke. "WHO DARES TO MOCK ME?!" Bellowed Zeus. "Uh oh" Deadpool went quiet. Zeus fired at another cell and Mr. Ash climbed out. He didn't have to look too far before he saw Delsin's cell and readied a blast of dark energy. He fired at the cell door and went inside. Shortly, the smoke was absorbed. Mr. Ash jumped out and clung to the bars of another cell. He saw the person he was looking for inside. He pressed his hand against the cell and blew it open. Kat looked out. "Mr. Ash!" He quickly tore off the straight jacket. "Come on! Quickly, before they get us!" He ordered. "I can't without Dusty!" She yelled back over all the noise. "Zeus!" Mr. Ash called out. "You need to carry her!" Zeus didn't have tme to argue, and so, he obliged.

Calypso heard a soft 'boom'. The All Stars. He sighed. "I had hoped it would not come to this." He laughed. "I lie to myself. Of course I did."

"Where the hell are we gonna go now?!" Delsin demanded. "Trust me, I know a way" Mr. Ash reassured him. Then there was a loud 'CLANG!', as all the cells somehow opened at once. "SWARM THEM!" Calypso's demonic voice boomed from nowhere. "THE FIRST TO CAPTURE THEM WILL BE REWARDED WITH FREEDOM!"

Zeus, who was still an eagle, ordered everyone to grab on. Delsin and Deadpool grabbed his claws while Mr. Ash and Kat sat on his back. But Calypso was relying on more than just his prisoners to kill them. Out of the firey pits below, a demon climbed onto the stockades. It looked like a cliche demon, with horns, red skin, and everything else. It was about as tall as the stockade, and the knowledge that it was trying to kill him couldn't have possibly made him any more frightening or intimidating. He used his claws to slash at Zeus. "Minion!" Mr. Ash yelled over all the commotion. "You've gotta land, or we're never gonna see the outside of this place!" He yelled to Zeus. Zeus looked around. "There is no space to land!" He yelled back. "Go between his legs!" Mr. Ash instructed. Zeus didn't hesistate. One second of hesistation would probably cost them dearly.

Zeus managed to squeeze through the gap and into more space. Minion roared and started to breath fire at them. "Shit! Calypso wasn't kidding when he said escape wouldn't be easy." Mr. Ash noticed it began to get noticably hotter and then remembered the fire. "Can you go any faster?!" He called to Zeus. "Not with all of you clinging to me! With such puny strength, you'd never be able to hold on!" Zeus answered. Mr. Ash interpreted that as a challenge. "Forget about us, just go as fast as you can, or we'll all be burned alive!" Zeus understood and quickly increased his speed. Within seconds, he had created a sonicboom. Mr. Ash was quickly regretting his descisions. Some of the stockades which at this point were crawling with prisoners trying in futile fashion to bring them down by throwing stones at them, they were all blown back and fell into the firey pits below. Mr. Ash chuckled a little as all of them went flying like ragdolls. Maybe he was more evil than he thought himself to be.

Zeus landed. "Is everyone okay?" Mr. Ash asked. He wished he hadn't asked. Deadpool and Zeus looked fine, but Delsin and Kat looked awful. They hadn't eaten in days, they were bruised and bloodied, and they were more than likely mentally broken as well. They didn't pay any attention though. They had pulled each other into a comforting embrace where they both just bawled their eyes out, visibly trembling in fear. Mr. Ash realized the gravity of the situation at that point. He would get over it. It was nothing new to him. Zeus would be fine too, and Deadpool would just forget about the whole thing. But those two...they had powers, but they were still human, and no human deserved this. This was something that would stay with them forever, regardless of whether or not they got out alive. They were terrified out of their minds, scarred for life and nothing would change that. Zeus and Deadpool had gone ahead, making sure no one got near them. Mr. Ash scratched his head. He really didn't know what he was supposed to say, but he was trying anyway. "Come on guys, we've gotta keep moving." They didn't even acknowledge him.

Mr. Ash sighed. "Look, I know things are bad. But, Calypso, I-I know him. This is exactly what he wants, to see you as broken as you are now, and I don't blame you. I think that...no-one deserves this, and you must feel awful for having gone through it. But we've gotta keep going. Keep moving. If we don't, then what you're saying will be true. Calypso will find us, and it's back to that again." He sighed again. "I'm sorry if I was insensitive there. I'll give you however much time you need to get ready." He walked off up the mountain path, leaving the two of them alone. Kat was the first to speak up. She got to her feet and rubbed the tears from her eyes. "He is right, Delsin. We need to keep going." Delsin was getting to his feet. "Does it really matter? Who knows if it's any better up there?" He asked. He went over to the edge of the mountain path. "I mean, for all I know, we may as well just throw ourselves off this mountain and save Calypso the satisfaction of being able to keep us." Delsin sighed. Kat felt the same way. Calypso had scarred her. It was tough to approach the situation from her usually optimistic viewpoint. She wanted to say she had been through worse, but seeing where they were, and what was going to happen to them if they got caught, it was the worst things had ever been.

She missed Dusty, and her friends too. Raven, Syd, Cecie and everyone else, and now she wasn't sure if she'd ever get to see them again. She knew how Delsin felt.

But they couldn't just give up now. She needed to say something to lift his spirits.

"I know. Things might not be better. They may be much worse." Delsin didn't turn. "Delsin, I'm scared too! I'm scared, that I'll never make it home, I'll never-" She wiped away another tear. "Never get to see any of my friends again, and that we will be caught and put back in there for Calypso to do what he wants with us." Then her voice changed. It went from ragged and distant to confident and determined. "That's why we have to keep moving. We need to find out the truth! Delsin! Mr. Ash says he knows a way out, and whether or not that is true, I'm going with him to find out!"

Delsin was speechless. Where did that burst in confidence come from? But he knew she was right. They had no way of knowing any of that. But as long as they kept moving, there was hope. "Alright Kat. I trust you." He said. Kat's eyes lit up, making Delsin smile. "Delsin!" She pulled him into a hug, almost crushing him. He was badly hurt, but he didn't care. Just to see that childish charm she had return. She released him and looked into his eyes. "We are going to find our way out! We will get home!" She ran off towards the rest of the team. Delsin laughed a little and ran off after her. Mr. Ash smiled and watched as the two took off ahead of even Zeus and Deadpool. It gave him a warm feeling often absent from him, whether or not he was here or anywhere else. Zeus and Deadpool gave chase, yelling out about how unsafe it was to go running off and Mr. Ash, not wanting to be left behind, took off after them.

The journey was unforgiving. Up long and winding mountain paths, with the sorching heat from the fire pits never far. Delsin looked back at the stockades. "Hey guys, look!" They were little more than a blip now. Mr. Ash looked too. "We still have a long way to go. What do you say we look for a place to set up for a little while?" The All-Stars agreed.

They all made it to an enclave in the mountain path. "We should be safe here. Calypso won't think to look here."

"I'll look out for demons." Deadpool offered. "You guys can rest easy knowing I'm on the job." The other four went into the enclave. Delsin and Kat were out like lights. Obviously completely depleted. "Mortal, please explain something to me." Mr. Ash turned his attention to the olympian god. "What?"

"How is it that you are so knowledgable of this place?"

Mr. Ash was happy to answer. "Well, it's a long story, but, if you wish, I'll tell all."

 _15th October, 1523._ _New York, British Colony._

A New child was born. His name was James Charles Ash. Me. I was to be a great warrior for His Majesty of the British Empire. So I was. I loved fighting against the barbarians who incited violence against the Empire. But eventually the rebellions grew thin. So in 1555, I went to Ireland were rebellion was commonplace.

A bit too commonplace. I was killed in two weeks by rebels. As I bled out, I looked forward to a glorious afterlife for my undying loyalty to the throne. But as I closed my eyes for the last time, I heard a voice. I opened my eyes again. I felt perfectly fine, and there was no sign of any injury I may have sustained.

I got to my feet and looked around for the source of the voice. I didn't have far to look. The voice belonged to a dark figure, seven feet tall, with a gargantuan scythe by his side.

The Grim Reaper?

"James Charles Ash. Your fate has been decided. Everlasting damnation for your sins." My heart skipped a beat. "W-what?! I don't understand!" I began to protest. "Come with me" He said, extending his arm for me. "No!" I yelled, turning to run. I ran through the streets which were now empty for some reason, until I came to a church. I barricaded myself inside quickly and gathered up all the Holy things I could. Crosses, a Bible, holy water, just in time for the reaper. The crosses seemed to have no effect, but the holy water was lethal. Shortly after figuring this out, I doused my sword in holy water and leapt at him, slicing him up with quick slashes. He was gone. I laughed to myself. "Everlasting damnation, ha!" But I saw something else. He had left his scythe behind. So I picked it up, to inspect it. That was when I was warped to the underworld. No one was too happy to see me there, but with the scythe at my side, I didn't need any friends. I hacked and slashed my way to the centre, that was where I met Black.

There's this misconception going around that the devil rules hell with an iron fist. Well, guess what? It was Black who ruled. I couldn't really explain what he did at the time, but it scared the shit out of me. He decided that since I showed my worthiness as a warrior, I should rule hell, and he would serve under me. But I figured, 'Hey, what difference does it make? I'm stuck here, so I may as well enjoy it.' Effectively, I was the prince of darkness. Things were complicated. I could do virtually anything with Black by my side, but the amount of options was so vast that I never thought of anything. I gave my scythe to a new grim reaper. I called him Mr. Grimm, and sometimes he would tell me about the people who he bring here, famous, infamous and downright evil. But it all went like clockwork. Older souls moved on and newer ones came in, and after a while, I grew bored. Real entertainment for me came from watching humanity progress in all aspects. I would come up to earth every decade and wander around earth, observing every change from the last time I had come up. I had died at a time before a boom in progress, so it seemed. The ways in which society evolved was kind of breathtaking. It probably was uncharacteristic for the prince of darkness, but I thanked God for the world. I never really thought of myself that way anyway. Eventually, things really began to kick off. It kind of disappointed me to learn of a staunch approach to rebellion and essentially what I viewed as the downfall of humanity at its own hands. At the center of it all was one man. The most notorious and celebrated celebrity of his age.

A man they called William Calypso. I hated his guts. He promoted loose living, anarchy, all in general chaos. You might think I'd be quite pleased at this, being the embodiment of evil and everything, but as I said before, I never thought of myself in that light. So for the first time in a long time, I decided to use my powers for evil. I knew he already had problems with depression, and so I intensified those problems. Within five years, he was an emotional wreck, a shadow of his former self. I knew all I had to do was watch. He killed his wife and child quite spectacularly, and then he slipped into a coma. I wanted to make him suffer, because I believed he was responsible for corrupting scoiety. I know it sounds petty, but I really did believe that. Fourteen years on, he died. I awaited his arrival.

I created a creature as disturbing and nightmarish as I could think of, and had it chase Calypso. It was then, and only then, that I saw Calypso genuinely terrified. Not before then, and not since. But he managed to somehow elude the beast and find his way to me. He suggested to me that we round up the most despicable individuals we could find and make them send each other to hell. The one who survived it all would be granted a wish which could be anything they desired from me, as incentive. He called it Twisted Metal. I obliged, and let him take charge of the contest. I had little interest. How foolish that was. I let him use Black's power to grant wishes. Of course, he entered the contest himself, and won. His wish was for Black. That was when Calypso became what he is today.

Of course, I entered the contest he kept going. I thought I had a chance. But Calypso really had it out for me. I failed miserably, and was sent here. But Calypso underestimated my resourcefulness, and after five grueling years stuck in this shithole, I got out. Calypso designed this place specifically to stop me, but he didn't account for Mr. Grimm. He sacrificed himself, and gave his power to me, helping me to escape. So I took some time off, learned about what Calypso was doing, and who was signing up for Twisted Metal. I eventually caught up with Calypso, despite his best efforts to avoid me, and that was when I met the All-Stars.

"So there you have it. This place is hell, carved in Calypso's own image, and all of the people trapped here are people who protested Twisted Metal, died taking part, or just died as a result of the contest." That was when Deadpool came back. "Okey-dokey folks! The post is boring, so I'd suggest bringing a book or something." He said. "I will take watch." Zeus offered, getting up and going to the enterance. "Don't bother." Mr. Ash told him. "We should be going soon anyway."

Soon enough, they were all more or less ready to go. "We're gonna have to keep going up." Mr. Ash explained. "We keep going, until we arrive at Calypso's office. "Wait, aren't we trying to get away from Calypso?" Delsin asked. "We can get out quickly through the office though. Plus, if Calypso took anything from you, he'll probably have it up there." Kat realized that meant Dusty could be up there. "Then what are we waiting for?!" She tried to run off ahead of the group, but Mr. Ash caught her. "I'd like to remind you that we're currently going up against the entire population of this hellhole, so running off on your own may not be smart."

"Everyone listens to me from now on. I know this place, and I know how to get out. Calypso is going to do everything to stop us from getting out, so we need to be prepared to take on anything. We won't be prepared to take on anything if we can't stay together. So just follow my lead, and we'll more than likely get out of here in one piece. They all managed to agree on that. Even Zeus. Mr. Ash surveyed the rag-tag team of a small town delinquent, a hobo, a walking tumor, the king of gods and himself, the devil.

All things considered, it might just be able to work.

 ** _Author's Note_**

I was inspired by playing the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games when I wrote this. Particularly in the first game where you're on the run as fugitives, and in the second game where you get stuck in the future. A lot of the music when I write these chapters recently, not just this one, comes from the PMD games as well. Idk why, I just find the music catchy. I imagine that Mr. Ash is in Calypso's prison during TM 2012. Same for a lot of characters that didn't appear in TM 2012. Calypso's a dick.

Thanks for reading, and

Until Next Time!


	31. The Driving Factor

"So just keep going up?" Delsin asked. "Just follow me, and we'll get out of here." Mr. Ash confirmed. The mountain journey was unforgiving as all hell. (Which, to be fair, should be expected.) Not everywhere was simply just going by a path though. There were parts where the All-Stars had to scale the mountains to move higher. The weather was never consistent, except in its harshness. Calypso had stockades in extremely cold environments too. Blizzards and snowstorms came down on the All-Stars hard. Mr. Ash didn't care, but the other four did. Even Zeus was using his electricity to keep warm. Delsin ran out of smoke about half way through the blizzard. But they kept moving. "Ngh. How much f-f-f-f-further?" Delsin asked. Mr. Ash barely heard him. "We'll be out of the storm soon!" Mr. Ash shouted back over the storm. They encountered a few prisoners chasing them, who had frozen in the cold. "Poor souls." Mr. Ash muttered. The cold was starting to get to him too. He looked back and noticed that along with Zeus, he was considerably far ahead of the other three. "S-s-still think it was a g-g-good idea to follow him?" Delsin asked Kat "Sh-shut up." Kat retorted. She still trusted him. Although that trust was being run thin by the blizzards. Mr. Ash threw his jacket back, ignoring the biting cold, and waited for them to catch up. Deadpool wasn't even in the mood for his usual smartass remarks. Maybe the blizzard wasn't so bad after all then.

Slowly, but surely, they pulled through the frozen hell. "We made it." Deadpool sighed with relief. "Thank God, 'cause that was close to me get-" "There they are!" A prisoner yelled. Zeus fired a lightning bolt at him as the rest of the group ran for a place to hide. Thankfully, Zeus was able to get the bodies of those prisoners and throw them into a dark pit. "An abyss. People falling forever." Mr. Ash muttered. He hadn't been here before, but half a millennium's worth of experience taught him to recognize it. "Not much further now." Mr. Ash told the group. "If we can just keep going for a short while longer, we'll finally be free from this place." Zeus wasn't convinced. He went over to Ash. "Are you sure?" He muttered to Ash. Mr. Ash shook his head. Truth be told, he had never actually been here before. But he could still guess that Calypso's office was at the top of all this. More and more prisoners found them, but they were no match for Zeus. Calypso had them in a condition that meant they couldn't do much of anything, let alone bring down a god. His demons were nowhere to be seen either. They had been walking for hours, until they came to an elevator.

Mr. Ash recognized the elevator. It was the same one in the corner of Calypso's office on earth as well. "Up here." The All-Stars weren't so sure. "Are you sure about this?" Delsin asked. "I mean, what happens if we get stuck, or if it's a trap, or something?" Mr. Ash stepped in. "Well, in that case, we won't be getting out of here." He replied, cool as you like. Delsin shrugged and stepped in. Seconds later, they arrived. His office was spacious, and looked very expensive. At the far end of the room, was Calypso's desk. The man himself wasn't here, but his radio was still on. He was listening to actual news this time, none of it concerning at the moment. There were chairs and potted plants scattered around the room as well, and two large windows, one at either end of the office.

The cabinet was the main attraction in the room. It was lined with various trinkets of all descriptions. There was a black cat scratching on the glass at the front of the cabinet. "Dusty!" Kat ran over to the glass. "I'll get you out." She prepared to kick down the glass, before Mr. Ash stopped her and pulled her away from the glass. "Are you mad? He might-" CRRRRAAAAAAASSSSSHHHH! "Oops." Deadpool had taken one of the chair and flung it through the glass with tremendous power and accuracy. "

"...hear us. Oh well." Mr. Ash shrugged. "Guess we have a bit of time to kill before he gets here. I've been dying to see Calypso's trophy cabinet." They were all confused at that comment. "Should we not try to evade Calypso?" Kat asked. He ignored the question and stepped into the cabinet and began looking at some of the things in there. "What sort of display is this?" Zeus asked, joining the inspection. "This is where Calypso keeps most of the junk he takes off Twisted Metal contestants when they die." Mr. Ash explained. "Hey, Deadpool. Found your shit." He tossed a bag out to the eccentric mercenary before getting back to the inspection. "Wait, what?" Delsin was confused. "It's this place in general." Mr. Ash explained. "Calypso runs a contest called Twisted Metal, and anyone who dies taking part, or as a result of the contest, gets sent here." He picked up a boxing glove lined with scalpels, needles and medical scissors. "Hey, Deadpool." He called out, tossing the glove over. "Go crazy." Deadpool put on the glove and proceeded to poke himself in the eye with it. He threw it across the room, putting as much distance between him and it. Mr. Ash laughed. "Twisted Metal's a fucking dumb name. I always thought High Octane would be a much better name. But alas, that Calypso was stubborn."

Mr. Ash thought back for a second. He remembered when he first met Calypso.

* * *

Sitting on a throne of skulls, I whistled to myself. I was quite good at whistling. Six or seven hours a day and you could whistle pretty much anything. But today was a unique day. I didn't know that yet, but it would be. It all started when I snapped out of a daydream to the sound of footsteps. "Who goes there?!" I demanded. The man eventually ran up to me. I looked at him. He had messy black hair, and a badly burned face. His clothes that he was wearing were torn and ripped, revealing several ugly gashes, probably a result of Minion. William Sparks. Calypso. "You!" I was disgusted. "I...I...please, just give me a second." He said, panting. "How did you get away from Minion?!" I demanded. He finally collected himself. "Well, I finally managed to out run him. But wait, because I have an idea. It's all my fault, all the chaos and destruction on earth right now. But I want to redeem myself." I raised an eyebrow. "And just how do you plan to do that?" I asked. "It's to do with you, sir. I suggest we have these killers and wrongdoers rounded up for contests." He explained. "With vehicles, they would all kill each other until only one remained. Then we could erase public knowledge of them." I was curious. "And how do you expect they'll sign up? They may be lunatics like you, but surely they won't just sign up at the prospect of killing things."

"We can grant them one wish. Regardless of cost. Of size, of physical possibility. But most of all, of consequence." I was starting to like the idea. "I see. So once every other contestant is killed, we let the winner through. Then let's say, he wishes for money. That's when a shower of coins comes down from above and crushes him to death." Calypso nodded. "Exactly." I considered it. "So, you seem to have it all planned out in your head. I will let you take charge of this. Make absolutely sure that this is kept secret. I don't want word of this contest to leak." I warned him. "Or else-" He laughed. "As you, said, I have it all planned out. Rest assured, every loose end is accounted for." I made up my mind. Perhaps this would provide some entertainment. "Very well. I will give you the power of Black here, for assistance." I turned to him. "Black. You are to recognize the winner of the High Octane contest under Calypso, and grant whatever wish they may desire. But always try to twist their wish. Always." Black nodded in understanding. Little did I know what was to come. "Thank you. But if I may, I think Twisted Metal is a much better name for the contest." I didn't agree. "High Octane, Calypso. No buts." He said nothing, and walked off. Then Mr. Grimm appeared. "Mr. Ash, sir, Calypso has escaped Minion!" I waved it off. "It's alright." I explained the situation to him. He was immediately skeptical. "Are you sure, sir? What if he still seeks revenge against you for what you did to him?" I shrugged. "Maybe this will calm him down. Besides, it isn't like he can enter himself." Mr. Grimm was still skeptical. "You gave him more control than was safe, in my opinion, sir." I turned to him. "Well, I don't believe you, after all, anything he could do would pale in comparison to the powers of both you and Black, so I would be safe. But you have always been a faithful servant, Mr. Grimm, so I will humour you. If that unfortunate scenario were to ever arise, then you should find my whereabouts and we shall take down Calypso together."

He liked the idea. "Sounds like a good plan to me, sir."

How useful it would turn out to be. But now, back to rummaging.

* * *

Then he picked up a vial with a strange red liquid inside. "What's that?" Delsin asked. "Don't know." Mr. Ash responded. "Hey, Deadpool, drink up." He chucked the vial over to Deadpool, who pulled off the cork and downed the whole thing in one go. Everyone looked at him, slightly concerned. "Oh, that's strange." Deadpool remarked, searching for the right words to describe it. "It tastes like AH!" He fell to the floor. Several seconds passed before Deadpool got up, looking slightly dejected no one found his joke funny. Mr. Ash continued to rummage through the cabinet, finding a familiar looking machete. "Hmm." Zeus looked at the blade. "Doesn't that fool with a flaming head wield a weapon similar to this?" Mr. Ash nodded. "That's right, Marcus Kane." Kat, who had just retrieved Dusty was now confused. "I thought his name was Sweet Tooth?" Mr. Ash laughed. "No. That's the name of the Ice cream van he drives. He was an ice cream man, you know. Still is. Although not a lot of people know that." Kat shuddered at the thought of the deranged clown around children. Although, she wondered if he actually made good ice cream...

Mr. Ash tossed a paper bag to her. It had a crudely drawn face on it. "If you want to ask him for ice cream, give him that. He'd love to see that damn thing again." There was still more to go through. There was a key as well. Mr. Ash discarded it. There were two small containers as well, empty, but with the writing 'WARNING: Keep out of reach of children and pets.' on the side. Mr. Ash shrugged, and tossed it out. Some games as well, nothing interesting or worth noting at all.

"Hey, check this out." He said, flicking the switch on some blocky thing that looked like a bomb. It played a recording."Aliens." Mr. Ash said. "Take whatever suits, probably won't kill you." He took some voodoo dolls and tossed them out. "Well, 'cept that." Shortly he had thrown out everything from the cabinet. "Whew!" He said, wiping sweat off his brow. "This doesn't make sense though." Delsin pointed out. "Why are we doing this?" Mr. Ash smiled. "I wanted to fuck with him before we left." He answered. Delsin couldn't believe his ears. "So you're saying that we came up here for petty revenge?!" He demanded, anger rising. "Calm down. We're close to home. Besides, Calypso is still waiting outside the tower for us to drop down." He reassured Delsin. "What would give you knowledge of this?" Zeus asked. "It's how I escaped the first time I was here. I don't have much time to explain, but Calypso and I go back a long time." He stepped out of the now bare cabinet. "I'm sorry to have wasted that much time, now, we can go."

Mr. Ash thought back to the first time he escaped.

* * *

Day 1,973

I had given up on escape. Calypso made it impossible for the average Joe like I was now to ever escape. Everything he had done to me over the past five years, had made me numb. I thought of the irony. Five years was all it took for me to drive him to suicide. After five years, I didn't have that way out. But I at least had a way out. Mr. Grimm appeared in the cell. I would have screamed his name, but my vocal cords had been severed after two years here. "Sir! I finally found you!" He took one look at me in the sorry state I was in. "Sir! I'm terribly sorry I couldn't get here sooner!" He continued apologizing as he undid the straight jacket. As it fell to my ankles, I felt even worse. A lack of food, clean air, water, sunlight, just anything, had turned me into a wreck. He understood my situation. Then he stood up. "Well sir, it doesn't look like you would be at all prepared to get out of here in this state. But there is something I can do. He pressed his hand against my severed vocal cords. All of a sudden, they felt repaired. All across my body, I felt myself return to peak physical condition. Skin healed in areas where it was previosly burned, hair came back, broken bones repaired themselves, I felt great. But Mr. Grimm looked hurt. "Are you alright?" I asked. It felt great being able to speak again. "This is the compromise, sir." He explained. "As you bestowed your power upon me, I can give it back. At the price of my life." I understood the gravity of the situation. I didn't feel sad. But I felt overwhelming anger. "I swear on my life, Mr. Grimm, I'll get Calypso and I'll-" "No." He interrupted me. "What's important now is that you escape from here. Escape, and track Calypso down. Then take revenge. Go to the mountain by the tree, and pass throgh the mountain. Then you will be free." I realized he was right. Fighting here was pointless. "Very well, Mr. Grimm. Thank you for your service. You will be missed by me. I promise, that when I get back Black, I'll give you your life back." He smiled. "Thanks sir. Now, take my powers, and put them to good use!" He grabbed my hands one last time and transferred every ounce of power I once gave him. Control of dark energy, teleportation, superhuman strength, lightning quick reflexes, mind reading, telepathy, superhuman endurance, everything. It was all mine. Mr. Grimm began to fade away as I tested out the powers. "These should make getting out no trouble at all." I said to myself.

A few swings across the chains, and a mad dash to the mountain later, I realized how right I was.

The next few years for me were spent learning the more modern tongue of the day, to the point where I sometimes didn't recognize the words that came out of my mouth.

But eventually I cut the crap, gog with the times and found out everything I could about Calypso. Then I knew I wanted just one thing, and I would raise hell for it.

* * *

Then the window was smashed open. Evil Cole grinned when he saw the All-Stars. "They're here!" He called. "Excellent!" A voice said. Calypso then appeared, along with Madfang Ragewolf and Jorhan Staahl. "I must congratulate you on making it this far. A very bold tactic." Then he surveyed the group. "Ash, I'm a tad disappointed you didnt go out your prefered way. I don't appreciate deception." Calypso he went on. "Besides, you're nowhere near as good as me when it comes to it. Black!" Black appeared from thin air, much to the delight of Calypso. "You appear to be in quite the situation." Calypso went on. "I can't quite believe you made it this far, knowing I could catch you at any moment I chose." He sat down at his desk, the other three villains shifting to block exit through the window. "Why are you doing this?" Mr. Ash asked. "You've had your revenge. Why keep everything up now?" Calypso looked confused. "I'm not quite satisfied yet. I don't see how you could possibly think something like that." Mr. Ash shook his head. "No, Calypso. Maybe you aren't quite satisfied, even with all this shit, but I know there's another reason." Calypso wasn't convinced. "What are you talking about?" Mr. Ash walked up to his desk and slammed his fist down. "No one, not even you, would try this hard to stop one person!" Calypso smiled. "You're a very special person, Ash. The only other reason I can think of, is that I enjoy it. I 'get my kicks' from it." Mr. Ash stepped back. "Your kicks?" He repeated. "Yes. Why bother oppose me? After you escaped, I anticipated your return, but even then, I thought to myself, what good reason would he have for coming back here?"

"I'm not letting a sick fuck like you have his way with the world. Innocent people are dying because of you!" Calypso raised an eyebrow. "Maybe. But half a century's worth of suffering went on at your hands, and not once did you lift a finger." He countered. "They moved on. People dont move on here. People don't move on from your contests either." Calypso stood up. "I might remind you that YOU were the one who agreed to the contests!"

"If I knew innocent people would die, I would never have agreed to the contest!" Mr. Ash gritted his teeth. "Who is innocent?!" Calypso demanded. "How many people, who's crimes consisted of petty theft and other harmless crimes made up your ranks?!" Mr. Ash walked over to Calypso, ready to butt heads. "It gave them a chance to change!" He countered.

"People don't change!"

There was silence. "People won't change! They are too scarred by reality to even consider it! Too frightened, to be anything more than predictable!" He calmed down a bit. "You saw for yourself, when you went on that radio show. That host didn't give you an ounce of credibility. What was it he said?" Then he took out a walkman from his desk drawer and pressed play.

"...Well, _if_ she walked out there on her own. But, people are saying, it's Calypso, y'know, that it's his Twisted Metal." A voice explained. "Oh no, oh man. Here we go again." Another voice cut him off. "Hey, no, now listen. Now there was this preacher, right? And-" The other man cut him off again. "Wait, wait, wait a minute. Where are the cops in all this? The military?" The other man quizzed. "Well look, now they have wishes too, and everyone-" He tried to explain. "Where are all the protestors? If it wasn't just crime getting bad, but, if this Twisted Metal were actually real, there'd be protestors, right? If all this violence and death and destruction we're seeing, if it wasn't just crime getting bad, but if it were actually caused by Calypso, people'd be taking up arms against this guy! They'd be pouring out into the streets trying to take Calypso out!" Then there was silence. "But where is everyone? Where are all the people? Where are all the protestors?" Nothing again. "Yeah. Exactly. Exactly my point. The protestors, they don't exist, because _the contest_ doesn't exist. Twisted Metal?" He laughed.

"It just. Ain't. Real."

Calypso put it back. "People view me as a threat alright, but I deal with it. Now, what do you think would happen if a resistance group were to somehow become powerful enough to take me down? You honestly think that they would become the new heroes?" He laughed. "Maybe for the first few days, but what then? Once the dust has settled, the critics will be back. Someone else will come along, and overthrow them, the vicious cycle will repeat itself!" Mr. Ash took a step back as Calypso surveyed the group once more. "Zeus has his heart in the right place. He's only here because he has a score to settle with his brother. Deadpool is just along to get his kicks. But what about you two?" He turned to Delsin. "I needn't remind you, Mr. Rowe, that there are still a lot of people in Seattle who openly fund organizations deidacted to killing you." He went on. "The only comemoration you have is the one you made yourself." Delsin had his response lined up. "I don't give a shit. I got the medicene for my tribe, I took down Augustine, and I saved the damn city from the corrupt bitch! What people think of me is their business!" Calypso rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm disappointed in you both. Especially you, Queen Alua." He turned to Kat. "By God, you had it all! What the fuck were you thinking?!" He demanded. "Why should I let everyone else suffer when I can help?!" Kat shot back. "I did the right thing!"

"The 'right thing' for those people would have been to let the Nevi kill them all!" Calypso retorted. "Those people were good people! They deserved my help!" Calypso looked shocked. He laughed, as if not knowing what else to do. "Decent people?!" He laughed again. "I'd love to know your defention of decent! They made you live in a sewer when some of them even took rats into their homes! But it didn't stop there, did it?!" Kat gritted her teeth. She knew what he was getting to. There were idiots and thugs in Hekseville who didn't at all think highly of her, in spite of everything she did for the city. They took everything they could belittle her for, and milked it dry. "No, they went further. How many times did you come home from a hard day's work only to find what little you had was destroyed?" He asked, a wild grin forming. "Shut up! That has nothing to do with anything!" Calypso knew better. "They left you some nice messages, didn't they, showing their gratitude to their hero. Nothing of the sort. A 'Dirty Fucking Nigger' more like, maybe a 'Sewer Rat' or 'Worthless Bitch', correct me if I'm wrong, won't you?" Kat said nothing, but Calypso could tell he was hitting all the right buttons. "Sometimes they provideded some insight into their minds. Are phrases like 'Shifters Fuck Off Home' or 'Slutty Dykes Not Welcome in Hekseville' in the least bit familiar?" Mr. Ash turned to Kat. "Don't listen to him, it's what he wants!" He warned her. "All those days where you told Syd you had a job, or told Raven you were sick, you were really trying to hide the fact that people thought so little of you!"

He turned back to his enemy. "Don't you see?" He asked in a sickeningly calm way. "How truly awful people are? But that's just it. Some, idiotic, worthless simpletons who try to think of themselves as more than just complex animals, and try to subdue those instincts. That's why I promoted chaos when I was a stunt driver. Everyone is the same. It's nature. Why bother trying to be anything else? Twisted Metal is what it all boils down to. Animals. Going at each other for their own personal gain. Even Twisted Metal contestants with 'good' intentions. How many people did they kill for their wishes?" Mr. Ash stared his rival in the eye. "Bullshit. Every. Single. Word. As long as I'm here Calypso, I'm going to devote my life to taking you down!" He hissed. "You want nothing more than petty revenge, Ash. Don't deny it. You'll get your throne back, and then what? Everything will go back to the way it was before?" Mr. Ash was going to answer, only to hear something he dreaded. "ENOUGH!" Kat had picked up everything from his cabinet using gravity and had fired it all at Calypso. "Grab the cat!" He yelled before ducking. Calypso was hit hard by the storm, buying some time for Deadpool to take out Staahl and Ragewolf, and for Zeus to blast Evil Cole into a wall.

Delsin quickly grabbed Dusty while Mr. Ash grabbed Kat before she could go after Calypso. Zeus quickly turned into an eagle before carrying everyone away from the tower. "Down that path!" Mr. Ash ordered. They looked down the path. It was a long way down from where they were, but it wasn't too far from the tower. They landed about ten feet away from a jagged mountain, which stood out very much, especially when compared to the flat, sometimes smoothly varying landscape that stretched out in all directions.

They landed on the path. "There it is." The jagged mountain had a tree beside it. It must have been the only tree in the whole realm. "We go down to that mountain, we find our ticket outta here." They ran down to the mountain. "There's nothing here!" Delsin called out. "The mountain! Run through it!" Mr. Ash instructed. Delsin looked at the mountain. Was Mr. Ash serious about that? Mr. Ash caught Deadpool and threw the merc into the mountain despite his protests. Deadpool passed through the mountain with ease. Kat was next. Then Delsin, followed by Zeus. Mr. Ash took one last look at Calypso's tower. His goons were approaching fast. Mr. Ash followed suit, and stepped through the portal. Where to? No idea. Away from here, that was for sure.

 ** _Author's Note_**

A lot to get to here.

I intended to have another two chapters up before I got around to this one, but I figured it didn't make much of a difference anyway, and seeing as I had this one done way before any of the others, up it goes!

Most of what Calypso gets at here is from me rewatching the original TM2012 ending, which was cut. The acting and effects are awful, and the music sometimes drowns him out, but I felt Calypso had a somewhat solid motivation for Twisted Metal, which could be improved, but it was a solid foundation.

I also imagine Calypso wouldn't have every area of his tower be a burning hell, no sir, Calypso is more creative than that. Frozen hells and abysses are where it's at.

I couldn't really think of a good reason to keep Deadpool shut up for that long, so Idk. Maybe he's still hurt by no-face's boxing glove. (Loved all those references btw.)

I think Kat would have been the victim of that kind of discrimination, especially in the first game. It's obvious the people of Hekseville (at least the ones she talks too) don't really care much for her. Her reputation improves over time, sure, and she has some friends, but for a large part of the first game, she's pretty much known as the weird girl who lives in the sewer.

On a much less serious note, I realized recently that the city name is in fact Hekseville and not Heskeville, and for whatever reason, I felt like I'd been lied to. Same thing with Juan's last name, Aguacate and not Acuagate. I blame pokemon for teaching me to not care as much.

Until Next Time!


	32. What's safe?

Deadpool landed with a thud on the hard ground. "Ugh. Where are we?" Delsin asked, landing in the same spot. "Out of there, that's for sure." Deadpool remarked. The two got up and waited for the other three to come through. Ten seconds later and they were all standing in a room with a bed, a small locker, and a wardrobe with a mirror attached. "Where are we?" Mr. Ash asked himself, opening the only door out. It led into a living room style area, quite cozy, with a fireplace, a tv, nice furniture, everything. There was a white door at the far end of the room, which presumably lead outside. "Guess we should take that door." Mr. Ash muttered. He opened the door. Outside was a long and wide corridor, with windows looking out at the clouds. He smiled upon realizing where they were. "Guys, we're back on the ship." He told them. "So we are." Zeus confirmed, stepping outside to make sure. "Ugh, thank God." Delsin sighed with relief as he collapsed in the middle of the floor. "Poor kid is exhausted. Take him to his quarters, use his handprint to get in." Mr. Ash instructed. Deadpool threw the sleeping conduit over his shoulder and walked down the hall. "Come on, let's go home. You know, this reminds me of the time where….." His ramblings became distant as he walked off.

"How about you?" He turned to Kat who staggered off in the other direction, trying to force one of the doors open. "Isn't your place off down there?" He asked as Kat stopped in her tracks. She looked exhausted too, but she refused to give in. She muttered something to herself and walked off the other way. "Mr. Ash shrugged. She could probably find her way there. Wasn't like anything could happen.

With Delsin and Kat trying to get some rest, Mr. Ash decided to report back to Kutaragi. Zeus had gone back to train for a rematch he claimed he would have against Ash, although he didn't really care much for Zeus. Deadpool ran off like a madman, probably should have gone off after him, but nonetheless, Mr. Ash figured he couldn't be held responsible for any collateral damage the merc caused. He noticed that the halls were entirely bare. At first, he figured it was just really early in the morning, so no one was up, but he found a clock which suggested it was afternoon.

But nonetheless, he was able to find Kutaragi in his usual place. "James!" Kutaragi was surprised. "I was unaware you returned from Angel City." Mr. Ash had some explaining to do. "Well, eh...we failed. Badly." He started. "That's fine, but please, tell me about your travels. "Well, after we left Silent Hill...the place was swarming with 'em...so I made a wish...we travelled through the place...finally got out and wound up in CJ's quarters." Kutaragi nodded throughout the whole thing. "That sounds like quite the journey. Pyramid Head will be content in Silent Hill though, so we shouldn't worry too much. Those two are resting then, yes?" Mr. Ash nodded. "Well, I've just sent out the rest of the All-Stars on seperate missions, so I recommend that you all stay here for the next few days." Kutaragi suggested. Mr. Ash shrugged. "Actually, they can rest if they want, I'm going looking for Calypso." He was about to leave when Kutaragi stopped him. "James, I think it would be best if you stayed here." Mr. Ash stopped. "Why's that?" Kutaragi walked over to him. "Well, I'm concerned that you may be too focused on revenge." He explained. "What do you mean?" Mr. Ash asked. "It has to do with you and Calypso. Now, James, please don't take this the wrong way, I fully understand your anger, but I fear that it may get the best of you." Mr. Ash shook his head. "I'm fully focused, don't worry." Kutaragi called his bluff though. "James, after hearing you recount the conversation between you and Calypso, I fear that. He is a danerous individual, no doubt, and it is of utmost importance that we neutralize him. But don't you see? You risk becoming exactly like him. As he is hell bent on your destruction, you become increasingly obsessed with his, letting the situation control you." Mr. Ash paused.

Kutaragi was right. Ash only joined the All-Stars in the first place because he needed help with Calypso. Come to think of it, everything he had done was focused on Calypso. Making sure those kids were okay, because he didn't want Calypso to have a victory; Spending years of his life studying Twisted Metal, all to bring Calypso to his knees. When Calypso asked him what he was going to do when he won back Black, he didn't answer. Not because things wouldn't change, but because he never thought of it. It controlled him. But would he admit that to Kutaragi? Hell no. He wouldn't admit it to his own mother.

"Promise me you'll stay on the ship for a few days, just to calm down." He said, handing him a card. "Fine." Mr. Ash sighed. "What's this?" He asked, looking at the card. "Master Key." Kutaragi answered. "Grants you access to all the All-Stars quarters." Mr. Ash laughed. "Bad idea giving me this."

"Well, I didn't think Deadpool would be too trustworthy." Mr. Ash conceded. "Point taken."

With all that out of the way, Mr. Ash wondered about what to do next. Better check on those kids.

Hours passed as Mr. Ash would occasionally check in on them, and they would always be sleeping. He didn't snoop around though. No reason to anyway. Until eventually something happened.

Delsin finally woke up. His powers had finally restored him, thank God.

He looked around, reached for the light switch and turned it on. He slowly got up, showered and got dressed, then headed out.

"Hey, look who's up." Delsin turned to see Mr. Ash. "Hey Ash." Delsin waved. "I talked with Kutaragi. He says you guys are to stay here for the next few days, he gave me that offer too. So we have the entire airship to ourselves for a while." Ash explained.

"Sounds good. Where are the others though?" Delsin asked. "Well, Zeus is training for another fight against me, says he'll avenge his loss; Deadpool is...um, I'm not actually sure. But he's somewhere; and Kat is still asleep." Mr. Ash informed him. "Still asleep? How would you know that?" Delsin asked.

Mr. Ash flashed a card. "Kutaragi gave me this so I could check on you both." Delsin shuddered at the thought of the man who used to be Satan for hundreds of years watching over him in his sleep. "I don't know, it seems pretty strange. She didn't even grab anything to eat. Delsin's stomach growled. "Actually reminds me of somewhere I need to be." He walked away, looking for the cafeteria. "Huh. Wonder if the other one's okay?" He went off looking for the door. Not having far to go, he quickly found the door and fumbled around his jacket pockets looking for the key. Then he heard rustling from the other side of the door. Was she awake? Better see.

"Hey, kid-" A book was thrown at his head. "I just-" The second one didn't miss. "Godamn, someone's in a bad mood." He muttered, holding his jaw. The door slammed behind him.

When Mr. Ash arrived in the cafeteria to find Delsin eating a breakfast bar. "That's all?" Mr. Ash asked, slightly concerned. "I don't keep in shape by eating shit." He said, flexing nonexistant muscles. "Yeah, whatever." Mr. Ash rolled his eyes. "Is everything ok?" Delsin asked. "Yeah, your friend woke up. Thought you might want to know." Ash mentioned. "Is she okay?" Mr. Ash thought about his answer before shaking his head. "Afraid not. She threw a book at me." Delsin sighed. "Thought as much. I think I'll go talk to her." Mr. Ash shook his head. "Might not be a good idea." Delsin was confused. "Can't be anything a simple talk won't fix."

"Nope, sorry kid, but your friend isn't in a good mood. Maybe it's just that time of month." Delsin gave him a skeptical look. "Are you sure? I'm almost certain it's more than that." Mr. Ash sighed in defeat. "Okay, so I phoned that one in; But seriously, what can we do?" Delsin thought. "We could wait for her to come out. Then you use your pass to go in and see what's up." Mr. Ash raised his eyebrow. "Really?" Delsin threw his arms up in the air. "Well, unless you've got a better method, I don't know." Mr. Ash sighed. "What else do you want then? Her bra? Panties? Might be a picture of her tits lying around somewhere." Delsin shook his head in disaproval. "Fuck off." Mr. Ash laughed. "Come on, I'm just messing with you. I'll do your stalking for you." Delsin shot him an icy glare. "It's not like that." Mr. Ash had stopped laughing. "On a more serious note kid, why do you care?"

"Well, because she did the same for me. I mean, you saw, back in that hell, I was ready to end it all. But then she convinced me to keep moving, so I kinda wanna return the favour any way I can." Mr. Ash nodded. "Alright. A debt." Then he walked off.

About two hours later, Delsin heard the sound of a door opening. Was it her? Delsin went to check. It was.

Seeing her walking around was a relief. She had showered and gotten dressed since last time Delsin saw her. She wasn't wearing her usual attire though. She wore a plain white tank top with black shorts and nothing else. Her hair was thrown back in a ponytail as well. Delsin decided to follow her. She was going to the canteen too. Delsin pondered whether or not to talk to her during or after she had gotten food. Delsin didn't want to risk her slipping past him after she had finished eating though. It was also better to buy time for Mr. Ash.

"Hey." Delsin walked over. She hadn't lost her appetite anyway, it was a miracle she managed to go the extra day without food. Delsin figured that he should go and talk to her, and if things got bad, he could simply back off. "Uh...I just wanted to know how you're doing." She stopped eating momentarily. "I'm fine." She said before returning to her food. "Are you sure? I mean, I hate to poke around, or anything like that, but...It's been pretty hard on all of us." She finished the bowl. She still had more food to her side though, and moved on. "Why do you care?" She asked. "Well, it's because, y'know, even back when we first got out...I-I had completely given up. I was gonna end it all right there. But you, you didn't. You talked me out of it. Even though you should have been just as hopeless as I was, you found a reason to keep going. Why?"

"I do not understand." Delsin sighed. "I'm concerned. Something's getting you down." He explained. "I was just tired." She said. "It was something he said. Wasn't it?" He pressed. She said nothing. Delsin thought. What could it have been? Ah! That was it. "There's another...one of you. Is that it?" Kat ignored him. Delsin sighed. "Are you...batting for the other team?" Kat gave him a confused look. "hmm?" Was all she managed to mumble with her mouth full of noodles. "Never mind. But is there another person with powers like yours? Someone who can stand on walls?" He asked again. Kat said nothing. "You're not okay, that's for sure. What's eating you?" Kat looked at him again. "I do not know what you mean. Aside from everything you should know, things are okay." Delsin sighed, getting frustrated with the lack of answers.

"No, Kat. I'm not letting you get away with those lies. Something's eating you, and I'm not going away until I find out what it is." Kat gave him a frustrated look. "Why do you care?" She asked. "Because...because I don't like seeing you like this." Delsin answered. "If that is so, maybe you should just leave me alone." She retorted, annoyed. "No, I can't let you suffer in silence. Just say it to me, whatever it is." He looked around the room. "There's no one else here. No one else has to know."

Kat finished the bowl and stared him. "What makes you think you have the right to know?" She asked. "I just thought...y'know...uh-" "You obviously thought wrong then." She snapped. She got up to leave. "Wish you would just tell me instead of being a whiny bitch about it." He muttered under his breath. A little too loudly. "What was that?" Kat turned around. "I said, I wish you would just tell me what's up instead of being a whiny bitch about it!" Delsin repeated, fed up. "No one asked you to talk me, Delsin!" She shot back. "No one asked you to come knocking on my door looking for answers to a problem I know jack shit about either!" Delsin countered.

Mr. Ash walked inside. The place was still lit, she obviously didn't intend to spend too much time outside. It was a small enough room, chocked to the brim with random stuff. Ash didn't really poke around too much. He wasn't in the mood for Kat's full wrath if she came back and found him in her quarters. There was something he could look for though. That cat wasn't with her. Mr. Ash looked around, eventually finding the basket, and the cat inside.

Dusty let out a weak 'meow' before turning over. Mr. Ash wasn't an expert, but it didn't take an expert to know that something was wrong. What could it have been though? Then he remembered the small empty containers he found by the cat in Calypso's trophy cabinet. 'KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN AND PETS.' was the warning label. Calypso was always terrible at following instructions. He obviously poisoned the cat once he found out they escaped their cells. Whatever it was, the cat was pretty sick. That explained why she shut herself in, and why she was in a bad mood, but not why she didn't tell anyone. He had to get out now, anyway.

Quickly shutting the door, Mr. Ash searched for the power sponge conduit. He saw Kat storming back down the corridor towards her quarters, obviously in a foul mood. Mr. Ash said nothing. Eventually, he saw Delsin sitting in the cafeteria.

"Hey kid." Delsin looked around for the voice. Mr. Ash walked up to him. "I checked her room to see what was getting under her skin. It's that cat." He explained. Delsin remembered. Dusty. "It's sick. I remember seeing two empty little containers in the cabinet by the cat, back in Calypso's. Those were some kind of poison. Calypso must have given the cat the poison once he found out we escaped." Mr. Ash explained. "Okay. So, she should be fine once the cat gets better?" Mr. Ash sighed and looked to make sure no one was watching. "Uh, look. That cat, it isn't getting better." Delsin got the message. "How long?" he asked. "At the current rate? I'm not a vet or anything, but I wouldn't say it has very long left." Delsin's eyes widened. "Well shit, we have to do something then, don't we?!" Mr. Ash nodded. "I thought you might know something. You always spent a lot of time with her." Delsin nodded. He didn't remember a lot, but he did remember names. A few names of people that didn't really mean anything, like Gade, Syd and Raven. But one name that could have meant something. Hekseville. That was the place where Kat said she was from, so maybe there were people who knew about Dusty, and more importantly, people who could help. It was on the map, after all, so it wasn't like it would be hard to find. "Yeah. A place called Hekseville." Mr. Ash remembered seeing it on the map. "I could get you there." Delsin was surprised. "You could? How?"

"Teleportation. I can warp you to Hekseville and you can go and get the antidote." Mr. Ash suggested. "You're not gonna help?" Delsin asked. Mr. Ash shook his head. "I'll teleport you there. Isn't that help enough?" He asked, pretending to be slightly hurt. "How will you know when to bring me back, anyway?" Mr. Ash thought about that. "I'll have to go and get you. I'll give you like, four hours."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to just come with me then?" Delsin asked. "Yeah, but Kutaragi doesn't want me to leave the ship, and I kinda want to humour him for now. It's complicated. But bottom line is, this All-Star power should provide me with enough fuel to get you to Hekseville." Delsin shrugged. "Well, fine then. As long as you can take me." Mr. Ash cracked his knuckles. "That, I can indeed do."

* * *

Pyramid Head sat boredly in Silent Hill. Where were they? There was no one in town to terrorize, none of the other beastly apparitions from town dared to challenge him, and so he was waiting for something to happen.

Ask and you shall receive, so they say. There was a sound, like distant cannonfire, followed by the not so distant sound of a building collapsing. Pyramid Head grunted and turned his attention. There was another sound, but this time, the cannonball was aimed at him. He saw it fly through the air, above the fog, until it was batted away.

Nariko landed nearby, and looked at Pyramid Head. "You?" She was confused as to why Pyramid Head would be here. Then something clicked in her head. "Of course. That coward Bohan tried to take you unaware." She ran off in the direction of the cannonball, through the fog, confident she would find something. Pyramid Head grunted and followed her. Very slowly. Dragging the great knife behind him, he ordered other apparitions to fight with him. It wasn't a massive army, but it would do.

"Excellent." Bohan observed the cannons being fired as the desolate tourist trap became even more ruined. Then there was the sound of one of the soldiers crying out. It was faint, but just about audible.

"She's here!"

Bohan's expression soured. "Well, so be it. But armed with all my troops, I will have my revenge, Nariko!"

 ** _Author's Note_**

The other chapter got pushed back even more, so I figured I should keep uploading, just to prevent inactivity. So, why is Nariko in Silent Hill? Next Chapter! As for everything else...Idk. It's early/late again, and my brain won't cooperate. Oh well. What can be done?

Thanks for reading, and

Until Next Time!


	33. Something to hide

The Windy City. When people say that name, they talk about The Bean, Michael Jordan, the '85 Bears, a lot of things, but not Damien Brenks. He remembered it for a lot of things, but none of them positive. Aiden Pearce was the first name that came to mind.

Why did Aiden cause so much trouble? To be completely honest, he hadn't caused any damage to Polygon Man's plans, yet anyway, but it was personal. That was Damien's drive. He was seen as the brains of the operation for Polygon Man, storing all the data he could find in Blume's Chicago headquarters. Who were Blume? Basically a company that tried to control people's lives, nothing too serious. He had details about most of the villains and All-Stars stored there, from basic stuff, such as appearance, height, weight, age, etc. to the most obscure of stuff, like their favourite songs, day to day tendencies, some even had their wishes stored on the system. Aiden had almost no information. No mugshot, for a start. Almost everything the villains had on Aiden was due to the vast wealth of knowledge Damien had on him.

Aiden came over from Belfast to Chicago when he was about seven years old, along with his sister and mother, to escape their abusive father. Obviously, he wasn't a rich kid. He grew up in a rough neighborhood, often having to fend for himself and his little sister. Sometimes he wasn't able. Someone too powerful would come his way, and beat him to within an inch of his life.

It was when Aiden was 15 years old that Damien met him for the first time.

Damien was coming home from the computer store, after upgrading to the latest hardware. A 24 year old man at that point, Damien had taken an interest in hacking. So he saved up money from his day job, and spent it on computers. He had this 'radical' idea that the at the time newly launched world wide web would someday become an integral part of the lives of every member of modern society. So he figured, that if he got a jump start, and figured out how it worked and understood how to manipulate it, it would prove invaluable.

Once people started to rely on the web more and more, they would trust it more and more, saving such precious information as ID's, Social Security Numbers, and Bank Account details. But he needed someone else. He needed a partner though. He needed someone he could trust, someone preferably desperate, as what he was doing was so obviously illegal. When he saw Aiden lying face down in the rain soaked pavement, he knew what he had on his hands. That partner.

Aiden told him his story, from birth right up until that moment. Poor kid's mother pulled the trigger on herself, and that meant foster care. But Aiden knew that meant he and his sister, Nicole, might never see each other again. Aiden vowed to be the breadwinner for them, so he started stealing. First petty theft. But Nicky didn't like the idea of her heroic big brother stealing, so Aiden went for more morally weak targets. He started targetting established criminal gangs all by himself, taking what little he could to provide for him and his sister. Damien promised Aiden he'd give him and her a roof to sleep under if Aiden helped him out with his 'work'. Aiden agreed, and so Damien took him under his wings as a protégé, and watched as Aiden's knowledge expanded. Aiden was street savy too, useful for when dirty work needed to be done.

Then his computer screen lit up. 'You have received an e-mail from: Le Paradox.' It read. Damien opened up the e-mail. One folder in it. William Sparks. Damien hadn't the time to read it right now, so he simply took the file and placed it on the desktop for easy access. Back to the story.

They were a formidable team, but never really close personally, but that was just Aiden. He always kept to himself, always anxious to let the smallest details about himself slip when he let his guard down. Eventually, the rewards they raked in were large enough for Aiden to afford his own accommodation, pay for his own life, and his sister married and had two children. But Aiden and Damien kept up the hacking business, until that day. A fancy hotel in Chicago called the Merlaut, where there was supposed to be a lot of dough. It was supposed to be the last mission, and it was, although the outcome was not as planned. Someone found out they were trying to hack into the Merlaut, and so, as Damien put it 'Aiden chickened out'.

But it didn't just stop there, oh no. As it turned out, the duo had angered the notorious mob boss Dermot 'Lucky' Quinn of the Chicago South Club. Quinn had been in the business since before Damien was born, and he had built quite a criminal empire for himself. He let Damien know that. Men were sent to his home to cripple him, and they did. Damien had a hard time coping, but it wasn't until Aiden was hit that shit really hit the fan. Some poor bastard, Maurice something or other, was ordered by Quinn to take out Pearce while he was enjoying a nice day out with his nephew, Jackson Pearce and niece, six year old Lena Pearce. Maurice made the hit, but things went badly wrong. Maurice shot out one of the tires, to get Aiden to crash the car, but the crash did not kill him. It got his niece instead. His nephew was traumatized, and Aiden felt guilt. That was when he got back on the horse, when Damien tried to reach out to him again. Aiden refused to work with him, saying he just wanted revenge, but Damien waved it all off as selfish bullshit. So Aiden at that point had no idea it was Quinn who called the shot on him, so he did everything he could to find out. Maurice was first. Poor bastard was tortured until he talked, not much saying though, he was just told to make the hit, and so he did. Aiden made sure he wasn't going to make that mistake again. Then he turned his attention to every suspect he could think of, and my God. Damien had never seen anything like it. Aiden killed everyone. Fucking everyone. Entire organized criminal gangs were completely destroyed, and all because of his niece. But Damien wanted to make Aiden pay at the same time. He blamed Aiden for crippling his left leg, and when Aiden showed up to talk with him only to tell him he wasn't interested in teaming up, it was the last straw for Damien. He tried to kill Aiden, but Aiden beat him to the punch.

That was when he met Polygon Man. The same guy who he still worked for, no pay, no contract, just the promise of revenge, and it was all Damien needed. Looking at the profiles of all the villains, and even some of the All-Stars, revenge was a key motive.

Aiden's profile was mostly blank, aside from basic information and what Damien already knew, and that there was his greatest weapon. He wasn't as strong as the other All-Stars, in fact, he was weaker than most of them, he didn't have any special weapons that could steal the souls of his enemies, his fighting style was good, but with the weapons he had, it paled in comparison most o the people he was up against, so why was he such a threat? Before he could answer the question, he received a phone call. He answered it. "Hello?"

"Hello, Brenks." Calypso.

"Yeah? What do you need?"

"Damien, I'd like if we could talk in person, there's something I'd like to show you." Then he hung up before he could get a response. Eh, probably not important at the moment. Back to Aiden. Why was he a threat?

Because he was smart. One of, if not, the most intelligent All-Star. What could Damien say? He learned his trade of hacking from the very best, and his street smarts made him dangerously unpredictable. He was able to modify his smartphone to ruin the daily lives of people who got in his way, without firing a single bullet. He made up his mind. He would settle the scores with Aiden once and for all. He took out a voice recorder and said what he wanted. Putting the thing back in his pocket, he went off to the teleporter at the back of the building. Calypso had it installed so Damien could get back to the tower Calypso had whenever he wanted, like now, for instance.

Stepping into the teleporter and arriving at Calypso's headquarters, Damien wondered what Calypso wanted. Maybe another file for him to analyze, or something trivial like that. As he took the elevator up to Calypso's office, the smell got noticeably worse, as if something was dying up there.

Little did Damien know it was waiting for him before dying.

As the doors opened when Damien reached the top, he saw the source of the smell. Le Paradox was tied to a chair, his mouth duct taped. Calypso was sitting at his desk, smiling as if nothing was wrong.

Or as if he was about to make a statement.

Le Paradox tried crying out for help, only to have his screams cut off by the tape. He was visibly struggling against the ropes. Calypso ignored him. "Damien. So glad you could come." Damien stared at the struggling Le Paradox for a second. "What the hell?!" He demanded. "What's going on?!"

"I understand Le Paradox sent you an e-mail not too long ago." Calypso went on. "Well, unfortunately for him, I caught him sending it. I found the contents to be...how shall I put this? Compromising? Yes, compromising. Well, I didn't take it well when I found out what was being sent, so Le Paradox agreed that he did wrong, and decided to teach you what would happen if you or anyone else were to read the e-mail."

Damien backed away slowly. "That's why I called you on such short notice. To prevent you from reading it and suffering a fate worse than death."

"What are you gonna do if I open it?" Damien pressed, wondering what could be so bad. Calypso started to laugh. His laughing got progressively more sinister, as Le Paradox became more and more panicked. "I'm glad you ASKED." Calypso's voice got much heavier as there was a flash of light. They were still in Calypso's tower, same room and everything, but one look outside the window suggested something much different.

On one side, a barron wasteland. On the other, behind Calypso's desk, something much worse. A burning hell. Damien went around to get a better look, and quickly regretted that descision. The sights below were covered by a red fog, mixed with some smoke, but through it all, a stockade was visible. People were pounding on the bars of cells, begging to be let free. They wailed and screamed for freedom that would never come, from torture and pain that would never cease.

Le Paradox was in a full blown panic by now, realizing where this was going. "Le Paradox, I shall make an example of you, to show my dear friend Damien what happens to those who stand in my way." Calypso caught the chair and smashed it through the window as Le Paradox screamed, falling and falling. The window repaired itself. Damien was speechless.

"You see? I don't take threats lightly. Passive or aggressive. Tread carefully, Brenks, you're standing on some pretty thin ice."

"What...the...fuck?" He barely managed to get out. "As I said before, an example. Don't worry about Le Paradox, he'll suffer for a while, naturally, but he'll pass on soon."

"You won't bring him back?" Calypso laughed. "Why should I? What do you think he'd do if I brought him back?" Then his expression soured. "On a more serious note, I couldn't, even if I wanted. When people die here, even I don't know where they go. But I can't let that bother me at such a busy time. So run along, Damien, and prepare your trap for Pearce." Then he reached into Damien's pocket and pulled out the audio recorder. "I'll make sure he gets this. Don't you worry." Damien began to move towards the elevator, as another flash of light brought Calypso's tower back to Ospylac City.

The whole way down, Damien could not stop thinking about what he had seen. Calypso had a few skeletons in his closet, that was for sure. But if he tried to find out what they were, he might just become one of them. What could he do? When he got back, the first thing he did was take the folder and put it on a small usb. He then took the usb and put it under his hat, then deleted all traces of the file on his system.

He could give the folder to someone else, and make it their problem, but who's to say they wouldn't hand it over to Calypso? As far as Damien knew, he was the only villain who received that e-mail, considering he was the only one Calypso called to his office. Maybe he could get protection. That wasn't a bad idea. In fact, that was quite a good idea. Calypso wasn't very popular, so there had to be someone who would give him protection in exchange for the information.

Damien opened up the villain's files and looked at the names. Anyone resurrected by Calypso was off limits, so that ruled out Evil Cole, Stahl, Ragewolf and Magusar. Ordinary humans wouldn't be able to keep it safe either, so Bohan and Edgar Ross couldn't be safely trusted.

Then it clicked in his mind. Why not Calaca or Gigadis? They were powerful enough, had an ongoing feud with Calypso, and would more than likely love to hear about dirt on him. He opened the folder on Calaca and searched through the files.

Carlos Calaca sold his soul to the devil in exchange for some tournament, then, after going to hell, somehow he overthrew the devil, and went mad with power.

Calaca wanted hell to himself, and the world of the living too. He first tried by sacrificing some girl to unlock the necessary power, but was thwarted by one of the All-Stars, Juan Aguacate.

Gigadis, on the other hand, was always a demon, but was banished from hell for reasons Damien didn't quite understand. Anyway, he found another All-Star, Pupuru, and immediately fell in love with her. Questionable sexual preferences aside, he had proved his worth as a powerful demon, which may have been why he was kicked out of hell. Was either of them a safe bet? Who knew? Damien thought about it.

* * *

Pyramid Head called down a thick fog on Silent Hill, causing Bohan's men to panic."Calm down!" Bohan ordered. "It's just some fog!" It was more than just fog though. What was in the fog was far more threatening than anything Bohan could have imagined.

Nariko emerged from the fog, coming face to face with Bohan. His men formed a protective shield around him, although they looked to be terrified of the Heavenly Warrior who stood before them. "Nariko. How nice to finally see you again." Nariko was confused. "Again?" Bohan glared at her. "Yes, again. Since you stopped me the first time, I longed for my sight back. So I waited and waited until eventually along came a voice. A man named Polygon Man. He promised me my sight back, and revenge on you. I was bewildered by such a promise, since I had been informed of your death after our battle. But he told me to come along, and he would show me what he meant. Another man gave me my sight back, William Calypso. Then, to top it all off." Bohan whistled. A raven came to his side. "An assistance in helping me exact my revenge."

Nariko was still confused, but understood that now was not the time for questions. The raven dissolved into a dark cloud and was absorbed by Bohan, giving him deathly pale skin and dark, raven like wings. "I've been waiting a long time for this moment, Nariko!" Bohan flew into the air. His men retreated. Nariko looked at the Heavenly Sword. "Please." She began. "I must have access to your true power!" The sword seemed to understand, as Nariko felt a surge of energy jump from the Heavenly Sword up her arms, overwhelming her and surrounding her in a white light. Bohan wasted no time and swooped in to get the first hit as Nariko prepared to slash at him with the Heavenly Sword.

They knew that one of them would not be walking away from the battle.

* * *

"You want _my_ help?" Gigadis was confused. "Got something on Calypso, might help you understand what you're dealing with." Damien explained. Gigadis was skeptical. "What's going on, Brenks?"

Damien checked the security cameras around the complex before turning to Gigadis. He took off his hat and pulled out the usb. "On this usb, there's some information on Calypso, that's pretty compromising. I got it in an e-mail from Le Paradox." Gigadis raised an eyebrow. "What kind of information?" He asked. "Well, I haven't looked at it yet, but it's supposed to be really big news."

"How big?"

"Big enough for Calypso to kill Le Paradox for sending it."

Gigadis was paying attention now. "Kill? How?"

"I'm not sure if you know about a place where Calypso has-it's essentially hell." Damien explained. "He took the poor bastard and tossed him into the flames, and told me he'd be dead in a few minutes." Gigadis nodded. "Yes, I did know of such a place. Calypso keeps anyone who dies because of his contests there." Damien stared at him. "You knew about this and said nothing to anyone?" He asked in disbelief.

Gigadis shrugged. "No one ever asked." Damien found that very hard to believe. "Whatever, but anyway, I'll give you this info, in exchange for protection." He offered. "I'd like to see this information first." Damien froze. "That's kind of the problem. If Calypso finds out I know the info on this drive, I'm gonna end up like Le Paradox."

"No info, no protection."

Gigadis' eyes would have sprung out of his sockets if they could have by now. "Wh-Wha-What?" Was all he managed. The two looked at each other. "So how's about the deal then?" Damien asked, seemingly unfazed. "Uh, yes, of course!" Gigadis frantically nodded. He then got up to leave. Damien returned to his computer. If he didn't watch his back, he would surely be in for it.

Gigadis could scarcely believe what he had just seen. Calypso was much more than even he showed himself to be. That was when he received a call. Gigadis fumbled about for the gadget, before finally finding it.

Calypso.

Nervously, Gigadis answered the call. "Hello?"

"Gigadis? If I may, I'd like to speak with you and Calaca asap." He then hung up, leaving Gigadis to make his way to Calypso's tower. Teleporting to his office only took a second, but staring as Calypso and Calaca stared back felt like it went on for hours. "Why are we here? Aren't you satisfied that we got Ash for you?" Calaca asked, slightly frustrated that hell was not yet his. Calypso shook his head. "No, I was very pleased with your assistance, though Ash did get away in the end." Calaca and Gigadis didn't like the sound of that. "So after all that work he still got away?!" Calaca demanded. "It's alright Carlos, I won't trouble you with that again. Hell is still both yours and Gigadis' to do with. But the reason I called you both here is for a favour." Calypso explained. "Ugh. Can't you just get someone else to do it for you?" Calaca asked, exasperated. "I must deal with the UN task force, so I am unavailable, and I would only want the best of the best to do my work for me. Besides, is it not all for the greater good?" Gigadis was looking at this whole situation differently to Calaca. Seeing Calypso and his demeanour now made him sick. But what Calypso could do to him if he wasn't careful...oh God.

"Fine, we'll do your work for you, what is it?" Gigadis finally spoke up. "It's to do with Damien." Calypso explained. "He has some compromising materials on his computer at his headquarters. I want you to go there and force him to delete everything he has on me." Gigadis was curious. "What's in it for us if we do it?" Calypso smiled. "For Calaca, I will expand your powers. Calaca rolled his eyes. "Oh, that's totally not suspicious at all. I one hundred percent believe that you could possibly do such a thing." Calypso ignored him and turned to Gigadis. "As for you, Gigadis. I know your love life has been filled with woe and regret so far, how you have put so much in and gotten so little out." Gigadis kept on his toes. "Wouldn't it be so much easier if you could make her feel the same way?" He produced a vial. "Use this as a grenade. Throw it at her. It doesn't have to hit her, all that needs to happen is that the substance comes in contact with her, be it through inhaling, skin contact, or even if you somehow got her to drink it, she would become infatuated with you." Gigadis lunged across the desk to get a hold of the vial, only for it to disappear. Calypso laughed. "I'm sorry Gigadis, but this deal requires that you hold up your end too." Gigadis sighed and teleported to Damien's headquarters along with Calaca. Then he paused.

What he had to do now was make a massive decision. He knew there was no trace of the file left on Damien's system, but he knew where the file was, and he knew how valuable the info on it was.

As Calaca and Gigadis ran a search through Damien's computer, looking for the folder, Gigadis thought about his two options.

He could give away the location of the drive, be rewarded by Calypso and keep his mouth shut about what he saw, and finally have a queen to rule over hell with.

Or he could keep quiet about both the location and contents of the drive, keep the info he knew for a time where he could overthrow Calypso, thus keeping Damien safe as was promised, but meaning no Pupuru for him.

Decisions, decisions.

Damien searched for any files he had left on Calypso, turning up very little results. Calaca waved most of them away, before eventually he could safely say that the file was not on the system.

"Looks like Damien deleted it already. Oh well, saved us a lot of trouble, now let's go back to Calypso." Gigadis tried to usher away Calaca, with Calaca brushing away his arms. "Just one moment." He walked over to Damien. "I'll search his pockets. Make sure he has nothing in his hat. Gigadis froze. Now he was faced with the decision. Once he decided, there was no turning back. He needed to get this right. Was it worth it to keep the video from getting out, in simple exchange for love? No. They needed to keep the video alive so everyone could see Calypso for what he truly was.

Gigadis carefully took the hat off of Damien's head and looked inside. Sure enough, the usb was there. "Anything in there, Gigadis?" Calaca asked. If he said yes, all his love woes would go away, and if he said no, Calypso could be exposed for what he was. But wait! Even if he lied, Calypso would still surely reward him. All he had to do was make sure he didn't get caught.

"No. It's empty."

Calaca sighed. "Well, that was valuable time wasted by that bone head Calypso!" Gigadis momentarily thought of the irony in Calaca calling someone bone head, but it was quickly replaced by thoughts of what he had just done. No turning back now.

 ** _Author's Note_**

So what's the video Calypso doesn't want anyone to see? Can Gigadis' love woes finally be banished? Can Damien use the video to turn the villains against Calypso, or is he too powerful to consider that a threat? Couldn't think of much else to say, other than Watch Dogs being a good game and all, something I got when it came out. Sure, it doesn't live up to the hype, but that isn't fair. If it lived up to the hype it would have been the second coming of Christ. Other than that, I orignally intended to have the entire Silent Hill fight in one chapter, but instead I decided the chapter needed one other thing before I released it, and so there it is. Thanks for reading, and Until Next Time!


	34. The New Hero of Hekseville

"So this is Hekseville." Delsin wandered through the streets aimlessly. The city felt so detached from everything around it, although that wasn't saying much. Everything felt detached from reality in this world. The rustic aesthetic and tightly packed streets weren't his cup of tea, but they certainly did have their place.

What didn't have its place in Hekseville was the DUP. Yes, good old Brooke Augustine had paid a visit before Delsin did. There was a checkpoint just before Delsin got to the part of the city where he could supposedly find help, a place called Auldnoir. Just for old times' sake, he went through the gate. "Place your finger on the scanner." The machine prompted. Delsin obliged and waited as the machine came to the inevitable conclusion that Delsin, was indeed, a conduit. "Good to know." Delsin muttered to himself as the machine informed every nearby DUP troop of his presence. Delsin quickly got over to the first troop and used his smoke chain to take him out. He then absorbed the concrete powers from him and began to take out the troops one by one. He fired at about three at once, the stream of shrapnels taking care of the troops. Delsin's superior concrete powers were showing.

Augustine obviously wasn't here, or else there would have been hell right about now. "Come on, this is too easy. Where's Augustine?" Delsin asked disinterestedly. The DUP troops had all run off…..but he could still hear gunfire. What were they shooting at? Well, they were shooting at these black, jelly-like creatures with bright glowing red orbs embedded in them. Kat had described them before. Nevi. The DUP were useless. Before long, most of them had retreated, leaving their buddies to die. Delsin stepped in and immediately made an impact.

* * *

Mr. Ash was mysterious. He rarely had any company in hell that he could talk to, save for Mr. Grimm. But that somehow didn't turn him into a recluse; If anything, Mr. Ash was pretty confident. That confidence was on full display when he decided to teach Deadpool how to play chess. He wasn't interested in fighting Zeus again, and so, bored out of his mind he went to look for Deadpool. The merc with mouth was hiding in the cargo bay. He had jumped out from behind some crates, prompting Mr. Ash to punch him in the face. Then he decided Deadpool needed a hobby.

"Okay, so you can take the white pieces, I'll take the black ones." "Zzzzzzzz" Mr. Ash moved the table out from underneath his elbow, making Deadpool hit his head off the table. "Sounds great!" Deadpool sprang into life. "Yeah, so you can take the white pieces." Mr. Ash explained. "Okay, so how does this work?" Deadpool asked, holding each piece up to the sun and thoroughly inspecting them. "Okay, so you've gotta try and get this piece." Mr. Ash explained, pointing to the king. Deadpool immediately lunged across the table and snatched the piece, causing Mr. Ash to fall back out of his chair. "What the hell was that?!" "I win!" Deadpool cheered, doing a victory dance. "I wasn't finished." Mr. Ash tried to explain, but Deadpool was in his element. "That was fun. Can we play Madden?" He asked eagerly. "No." Mr. Ash replied. He walked out, deciding to try again later. He thought about what else to do. It had been an hour and a hal since Delsin had gone to Hekseville, so he still had a lot of time to kill. He heard that there were Vehicles on the V Deck, including his very own Darkside. But then he heard a voice. "Mr. Ash?" He turned around. It was her. "Hey kid, you doing okay?" Mr. Ash asked. "I just wanted to apologize for everything." She said, looking rather sullen. "That's fine kid, I understand perfectly." She didn't go away though. "Um…..I guess I should tell you why I did what I did." She continued. "It's Dusty. He's sick, and I don't know what's wrong with him. I…..I think he might be-" "I know." Mr. Ash cut her off. "Dying." Then there was silence. He felt bad for her, having the courage to stand there and apologize after everything and still feeling awful tell him her problems.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" He asked. "I-Calypso, I doubted myself when he reminded me of those things people said about me. I thought for a while that they were true, and maybe…...maybe everyone in my world thought those things. Maybe they used me….." She grew increasingly upset, causing Mr. Ash to feel even more pity. "Well, you can rest easy." She looked up into his eyes. "Huh?"

"We're looking for the cure. We should have something soon." Her hope didn't return. "How?" She asked, obviously not convinced. "Well...I'm not supposed to say." Mr. Ash awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, realizing how badly he handled the situation. "Well, that is as good as nothing, is it not?" Mr. Ash pondered. What was he to say now? Was he a bit too harsh? Did she feel he was teasing her?

"Okay, I'll tell you. Delsin's gone to that city in the sky, not the one we were at, another one. He told me he remembered something about you saying...I really don't know. But bottom line is, he's gone off looking for a cure where he thinks he can find one." Kat realized what that meant. "Hekseville?!" Mr. Ash clicked his fingers. "That's the place. Something wrong?" He asked. "There may be. I don't know what has happened in Hekseville since I was last there, but if it's anything like what I think it is, Delsin needs to be careful what he does."

* * *

With his better concrete powers, it was taking single shots at a time to get the Nevi down. That just left one big Nevi in the middle of the street. Delsin dropped in front of him, trying to take a shot, understandably confused when nothing came out. But it was no big deal, he just had run out of concrete. The beast roared before taking a swing at Delsin. The two glowing spots were on his back. Delsin knew what to do. He jumped up and prepared a ground slam. As the beast looked around for its target, Delsin slammed into its back, destroying the orbs.

The beast collapsed in a heap before disappearing. People poured out in crowds and just looked on at Delsin, in disbelief at what they just saw. "Is he another hero?" "Where did he come from?" "Does Raven know him?" "Here she comes!" Then someone landed behind him. Delsin turned around. It was a woman. She had long hair which was jet black, but faded into crimson red towards the ends. She had blue eyes and pale skin, she also dressed similar to Kat, which is to say, not really dressed at all. There was a bird perched on her shoulder. The bird looked a lot like Dusty, come to think of it. It looked like a window into space or something.

She stared him down and said nothing. Delsin looked around as everyone stared at him, wondering what would happen next. "Who are you?!" The woman demanded. "State your identity!" Delsin raised his hands. "I don't want any trouble, I'm just here to-" "Your name!" She demanded again. "Delsin!" Delsin answered. "Delsin Rowe."

The woman walked up to him. "And what are you doing here, Delsin?" Delsin scratched his head. "Well...It's, um, how do I explain this? It's a sick cat." There were a few laughs from the crowds. "What? A sick cat? That's why you're here?" The woman quizzed him. "Yeah. What's your name anyway?" He asked. "If you must know, I am Raven, protector of Hekseville." Of course! Raven! Kat's friend. "So you're Raven..." Delsin muttered. "What?"

"Kat told me about you."

There were gasps from the crowds. "You really expect me to believe that?" Raven asked mockingly. Delsin wasn't sure how to answer. "In case you haven't noticed, she isn't here anymore." Raven continued. "More so, there have been people showing up, using concrete powers like yours to ruin this great city. So, Delsin." Delsin knew what was about to come, but he was still going to try and prevent it. "Give me a legitimate reason for you being here, or get out!" Delsin raised his hands to show he wasn't going to hurt anyone. "Come on, didn't I help you fight off those Nevi?" He tried to reason. "So did those other creeps. Guess how helpful they turned out to be." Then the police started to evacuate people from the area. "Nononono, we can talk!" Delsin protested. "I'm not interested in talking with people like you!" Raven activated her gravity powers. "I'm not interested in fighting!" Raven didn't care much for his protests. "Then you shouldn't be too much trouble for me!" Delsin sighed and looked around. There were no signs of smoke, video, electricity or concrete. But there was plenty of neon. "Fetch, I hope you pull through for me." He muttered to himself before the light off every neon sign in the street started to gravitate towards his hands. Raven watched in shock as the light formed an aurora as it left every street sign, and Delsin absorbed it. Raven wasted no time. He was obviously prepared for a fight now, and she wasn't giving him any more time!

Raven charged at Delsin, who tried firing neon shots at Raven, only to find they didn't really slow her down all too much. Raven tackled Delsin to the ground, and launched a few gravity kicks at the conduit while he was down. Delsin bided his time and used his neon dash to get out of the way of a surprised Raven as she bounced off the hard ground. Raven had her back turned, and so Delsin used his neon chain to strike Raven a few times, getting her to the ground. "Just listen!" Delsin called out. Raven obviously wasn't interested in listening, as she used the brief second where Delsin stopped attacking to get back into the air. Then Delsin was shot. He looked to the rooftops and noticed there were snipers. "Great, now I've got more to take care of." Delsin muttered to himself as he avoided another shot. Then he had an idea. He dashed up the side of the buildings, and concentrated on one of the snipers, who was startled by the sudden appearance of the target right in front of him. Delsin fired at his shin, wrapping the guy up in neon binds. He felt his karma go up. But he completely forgot about Raven, which was a big mistake.

The Gravity shifter had about a hundred crates, barrels and other objects lined up on Delsin, ready to fire. They all were released at once. Delsin fired a neon beam at the storm. The explosion wiped out all the items, much to Delsin's relief. But Raven had come through the cloud of smoke and hit Delsin in the chest with a powerful kick. The conduit felt the full force of the kick, and went flying off the side of the building. She had followed up with another kick, this time drilling Delsin through the air and releasing just before the ground. The crash that followed did nothing to the conduit though, obviously Raven didn't know he could fall off much taller buildings without a scratch. Delsin quickly launched himself up the side of the building again, with his neon chain by his side. Raven was caught off guard by the chain strike to the side of the head, giving Delsin a small window of time to gather enough good karma. There were about four more snipers left, which was perfect. Three perfectly placed shots left just one sniper remaining.

He wasn't staying though. Panicked, he lit a flare trying to signal for help. "No, stay here!" Delsin called out after him. "Stay away from him!" Raven was back, this time lifting Delsin into the air. Delsin recognized the technique. Kat had used it to lift the boat into the air when they went to Angel City the first time. Delsin felt himself being fired into the air, high above the city. He looked down and saw exactly how high he was above the city. If he could see all that, surely, he could see that flare that that guy had lit. He could. Delsin knew he could focus on him if he had a second. Raven was flying towards him, maybe to launch him higher, or get him away from the city. As Delsin focused, he saw a dot by the flare. Delsin fired a hail mary shot as he was consumed by another anti-gravity field. Then he saw the neon binds wrap around the soldier. That meant...

"Listen! I don't want to hurt you, or anybody else-" "ENOUGH!" Raven cut him off. "You've proven that you only want to damage Hekseville further, and I won't allow that!" Delsin decided that now was the time to attack. "Forgive me!" Delsin called out he turned the Gravity Shifter's greatest weapon against her. She couldn't comprehend what was happening. "What?!" She tried breaking away from the field which Delsin had created. It was almost convenient that they were so high up, as nothing else got sucked into the field. Delsin began to fire a neon crystal storm from each hand, firing from side to center. Raven, despite her best efforts, couldn't break free. Then the storm found its way to her. "AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" She screamed out as the full force of the blast hit her. Then the gravity fields faded, and both fighters fell to earth. Delsin used his neon to gently lower himself before he hit the ground.

Raven slammed into the ground. "Please listen!" Delsin called out. "Ngh! I-I won't let you...I won't let you harm Hekseville!" She gritted her teeth and tried to force herself onto her feet. "Stop, please! It's Dusty, that's the name of the cat. He's sick with a fatal disease, and we don't know what we need to do with him. If he dies...well, for a start, things are going to get much worse around here." Raven just listened. "But Kat...Kat would be heartbroken. I mean, I don't know how well you know her, and I know that to you, she's been gone for a while, but she's been through a lot. She's a one of a kind person. To see her that crushed would be..." Raven finally got to her feet. "Why? Why taunt me like this?" She asked with a tinge of sadness. "What do you want? Just take it, and don't harm Hekseville." Delsin was about to give up. "Please believe me! I'll do whatever it takes!" Raven was on the verge of tears. "Leave me alone! You're just like that Brooke Augustine!" Delsin started to put the pieces in his head together. "Brooke Augustine? DUP, blue trench coat, I know her! I fought her too!" Delsin hoped he could spark something inside Raven.

Raven instead charged for Delsin. He knew there was only one way he was getting through to her. He grabbed her arms and prepared himself again. "What are you doing now?!" Delsin ignored her as everything blanked.

 _I never asked for those powers. I never really asked for anything that came my way in life. My step brother, Zaza, was my idol as a kid. But the tables turned as a school bus containing us both was allowed to fall off the edge of Hekseville. We fell down the world pillar, falling and falling until we arrived at a level where time operated differently. I guessed we were pretty far down. That was when I found Xii. I thought it was just a crow, but Xii stuck around. That was when I got my powers. Everyone else was terrified of them, I was too, but I couldn't get away from them. They could. Zaza stuck up for me though, like he always had. He told me that I should use my powers to get back to Hekseville and get help._

 _I made it back, and immediately started looking for help from anyone. I tried helping out people around the city, but people were every bit as scared of what I could be up there too. Until I met a guy called D'nelica. He said that if I did him a few favours to help him become mayor, he'd send a rescue squad to Zaza. One such favour was that I prevent any 'missing' parts of Hekseville from returning, which I thought would be pretty easy. They were carried away, sometimes to other dimensions, so there was no way anyone would be able to get them back. But there was someone else. Someone who also had the same powers I did, and used them to bring back the missing parts of the city. That person was Kat._

 _Eventually, she helped me bring back every single one of those kids who were on the bus that day. She was a gift from above, I thought. People were no longer afraid of me, they weren't exactly warming up to me, but they didn't try to arrest me, or hurl idiotic slurs at me in public. But things could only go well for so long. We teamed up for a while, and...well, Kat was...a friend. Most people wouldn't even associate with me, but Kat saw me as a friend. Maybe because we both had powers, I don't know. But I found myself feeling the same way. But, goddamn fate...she gave herself up for this fucking city! Why?! I couldn't cope. I shut myself away. I didn't want to have to go through that again. Not ever._

 _I started hallucinating. I would hear that cat meowing from nowhere, and...I saw her. I saw her, I knew I did. But when other people came by, she was gone. She said something to me once though. That Hekseville needed another hero, someone else to look up to. How could I refuse a request from her? I did as she asked, and pledged my entire life to this city, making sure no one so much as layed a finger on it. That was fine, until..._

Delsin was pulled back into reality. He slowly picked himself off the ground, as did Raven. "How did you do that?" She asked. "I just have that ability." Delsin answered. "And I guess you wanna know the rest, don't you?" Her voice quivered. "If that's what you wanted, that's fine by me!" She was getting increasingly upset.

"She came here with her soldiers. I wiped them out before they could do any harm, but when she started fighting...I-I-I folded! I completely failed! I couldn't even put up a decent fight!" Tears streamed down her face. "Just to see what they did to this city. Then to think of her. She loved this city! What would she say?!"

Delsin felt guilty. She was only trying to protect the city, and when Delsin showed up using concrete powers, she assumed he was a threat, and reacted badly. "Y'know, she really misses you." Raven wasn't listening. She slowly got to her feet. Delsin raised his hands above his head. "Alright, alright. You don't believe me. That's obvious. So, if that's what you really think, you can get rid of me. Right here, right now." Raven readied another gravity kick. Delsin braced himself for the impact. "Please, please believe me." He muttered under his breath.

"Stop!"

Delsin opened his eyes. It was an old man. He was the one who had called for the fighting to stop. Raven had dropped back down to earth as well. "Gade?" She walked over to him. "This young man is sincere. Kat is truly alive, and Dusty is indeed ill." Raven turned back to Delsin. "What?!" She demanded. "That can't be! She would have come back here by now!" Delsin spoke up. "It's a long story."

"You two, come with me. I will prepare an antidote for Dusty, and you can explain to us the full situation." So as they walked away, Delsin explained the situation to them, about how the worlds were merging, Polygon Man, the All-Stars, the mission to Angel City which ended in failure, everything. "She went through all that?" Delsin nodded. "My God. Well, at least she's alive. You have no idea how much I missed her." Raven smiled and wiped away a tear of joy. Then they arrived at a small pipe. "Wait here while I prepare the antidote. It shouldn't be too long." Delsin looked around as Gade disappeared into the pipe. Maybe a look around the sewer pipes would kill some time?

The one nearest looked like a good place to start. After all, it was the only pipe he could see. There was even a ladder leading up to it. No door, or curtain, or anything. "Was that where she lived?" Raven nodded. Delsin went up the ladder. He took one sniff and gagged. "Jesus. How could anyone live like this?" Delsin asked. "Eh. You get used to the smell after a while." Raven waved it off. The place was a pigsty. Kat had some things that made it a room yeah, like a table and a bed, but she kept the most random junk on her floorboards. "What's all this then?" Delsin asked, searching through the piles. Raven laughed a little. "Yeah, Kat would just look for anything she could to put in here. I tried to tell her to put it all back, but that look of joy on her face, like she discovered the holy grail or something; I couldn't say no to that."

But then Delsin remembered something. "Wait." He cleared away the piles on the floorboards, which gave him a look at the bottom of the pipe. There was graffiti, in a strange language, which he found himself understanding. "Take a look. I don't think she wanted you to know about this." Raven bent down and looked through the floorboards. She gasped. "What?! Did she tell you this?!" Delsin shook his head. "No, Calypso said that it was people here who did it!" He wildly protested. "Bastards!" Raven slammed her fist against the pipe. "When I find them, I'll...I'll..." Delsin realized now why Kat didn't talk about those insults. "No, don't! She wouldn't want that." He tried to calm her down. "I know." Raven said, still furious, but managing to restrain herself. "But the idea...she gave everything for those people, and then they...Argh!" She punched a hole in the pipe. "Look, why not explain what happened here if it takes your mind off this." Delsin suggested. "Well, since Kat left, things got unusually quiet around here. These used to be twin cities, you know." Delsin was confused. "Twin cities? Didn't show up on the map."

"I don't know what maps you use, but there were two cities. Hekseville, and a city called Jirga Para Lhao. There were-"

"Okay, the antidote is ready!" Gade called out. "Sounds interesting, but, uh…..maybe some other time, yeah. Oh hey, wait!" He wrapped his arm around Raven and whipped out his phone. "What are you doing?!" Raven demanded, taken aback by the suddenness of everything. "Souvenir for Kat." Delsin explained. "I think she'd like to know you're okay." Raven shrugged. "Guess so." Delsin held up the camera. "Smile!" "No." Delsin looked at the newly taken photo. True to her word, she didn't smile. Delsin had found a lot of those people amongst the All-Stars, people who probably would have torn every muscle in their face if they so much as passively grinned. "You should smile more, it's good for you." Delsin advised. "Don't push it." Raven shot back. "Good luck with everything, by the way." Delsin saluted as he walked out of the pipe. Gade handed him a vial. "Give this to Dusty, and he should be fine in no time, however ill he may be." Delsin examined it. Thanks. He checked the time. "I still have an hour left before I can leave. Anything you think I should do?" Gade laughed. "Young man, I can take you back right now if you so wish." He opened the cloak he wore to reveal some weird black hole that looked like a portal to another dimension. "Are you sure?" He asked. "If Gade says so, I don't think he'd lie about something like that." Raven emerged from Kat's pipe. "Well, okay then. Thanks for the medicene, and uh, I don't know, maybe I'll see you later." Then he disappeared through the portal. Gade closed his cloak. "I thought it wasn't your place to interfere with the 'proceedings of the world', Gade."

Gade didn't react. "There comes a time for everyone, even myself, where we must fulfill our duty in the world, Sachya. Not an interferance, but simply doing as the-" "Alright, alright, I get it." Raven cut him off. "Sorry I asked."

 ** _Author's Note_**

So Raven is the new hero in town. Also, just writing this now, I do remember at the end of GR2 Raven sort of gives a half smile when she talks to some people in Hekseville. But other than Raven, I can only use that theory as to why some characters never smile. It will literally kill them.

As for Mr. Ash, yeah, I think he'd be confident enough to try and teach Deadpool how to play chess. Thanks for reading, and Until Next Time!


	35. Trying to turn the tide

**HE** NOT _IS_ **IS** YOU _WHO_ **NOT** ISTHINK **WHO** IS _THINK_ **YOU** _IS_ HE **THINK** WHO _HE_ **HE** NOT **IS**

Jacket screamed and swung the lead pipe straight into the swordsman's face.

 _Two_ _Days Earlier_

Nathan Drake fired at the Chimera beast as it drew closer and closer. Then a rocket came out of nowhere and blasted the giant Chimera into oblivion. Radec reloaded his rocket launcher. "Thanks." Radec said nothing, only taking out a sniper rifle and camouflaging himself. The chimera barely had time to set their sights on Nathan before Radec had killed them. But it wasn't just Chimera. Those guys with concrete powers were there too, and they were a handful. Thankfully they had their own super soldiers using video powers for back up. Or so they thought. Things certainly would have been much worse if they weren't there, but that didn't mean it wasn't a complete shitstorm anyway. Another Chimera landed in front of him and roared before it was shot through the head. It turned out to be the one chimera on their side.

Angelo was now simply known as the Chimera Hybrid. Kain had gone back to fight for Daedalus. He didn't care though, having already made up his mind that if he could still bring himself to fight for Daedalus after seeing everything, and having full knowledge of his plans, he was a lost cause. His new allies turned out to be old enemies. Nathan Hale, to be exact. He didn't expect Hale to do all that well, truthfully, as he struggled with the virus. Unless of course, All-Star power could help him somehow?

He seemed fine at the moment, anyway, using his sledgehammer to level a rogue VSA soldier. He was being covered by Raiden and Jak, who cut down the masses like it was nothing.

* * *

"How's the fight goin' so far?" Ross asked. "Superbly." Zarok answered. "Those All-Stars might be able to fend off our minions, but they shall soon tire of fighting. Once that happens, we can go in ourselves for the kill." Edgar Ross nodded. "Seems like a good plan." Then there was a strong gust of wind, followed by a red streak. "I can speed things up considerably!" It called out. Jorhan Stahl was confused. "Why is he here?" He asked. The rest of them shrugged. "He probably doesn't trust us enough to get things done ourselves." Daedalus answered.

"He's probably right." Edgar Ross muttered.

* * *

"Up ahead, rogue VSA operatives. Take 'em out." Kellan instructed. Echo fired three times, and one by one, the rogues fell. "Thanks Echo. Now, anything up ahead?" He asked. "It's heavily guarded. Like all the entrances. Gonna need to be something special to wipe 'em all out."

"MAKE WAY!" Jacket yelled, sprinting through, blood soaked katana held high above his head. "Huh?" Kellan barely had time to roll out of the way of the madman.

Kellan looked at Jacket for a brief second. He was quite unusual, to say the least. Nathan Drake described him as the kind of guy who poured milk into the bowl before his cereal, which was a nice way of saying he was completely unhinged and a threat to everyone within a twenty mile radius of him. He was whooping and hollering as he tore down the streets after some slightly terrified rogue Helghast troops.

It was an anomaly. Kellan despised Radec, but even he could agree that there should have been no way for that level of recklessness to pay off. Some saint must have been watching over him, which was the only reason he hadn't been torn to shreds by machine gun fire.

But he could ask Jacket about his questionable tactics later. For now, his focus remained on an entire whorde of Zarok's undead minions making their way towards him. Kellan readied himself to open fire on the whorde, making sure his guns were loaded, his OWL ready to attack, everything where it should have been.

Then they were all obliterated by machine gun fire. "What?!" Kellan looked for the source of the gunfire only to come face to face with a giant clown robot. Needles Kane and his Sweet Tooth ice cream van, now a giant robot. The crazed clown laughed. "Who's laughing now, Calypso?" Then another equally massive robot appeared at the other end of the street. "You must be Marcus Kane." It was a green creature, armed with a spear and wearing gold armour. "Calypso spoke of you." Sweet Tooth stood there. "Well?" He finally asked. "Are you gonna get in that thing?" The goblin laughed. "Oh no. I wouldn't do something so foolish. This is an autonomous machine, you see. It does all the fighting itself." With that, he backed off as the machine whirred into life.

Sweet Tooth fired his minigun at the robot, as it charged forward and knocked the clown to the ground, only to have the tooth pull the robot to the ground. Mecha Tooth was able to get up, only to realize there were two more machines waiting for him. He launched rockets at them, only for them to step out of the way of the intended missiles. "Shit." Sweet Tooth muttered as the robots closed in on him. He was surrounded and outnumbered 3 to 1.

Then a blast of energy caught one of them off guard. The other stared at his friend who shook off the blast, only to be hit by a spiked arm. Sweet Tooth turned to see the third robot staring at two more mechs. Mecha Tooth kicked the third in the back, causing it to fall over. Emmett Graves had brought along his Warhawk, while the Doctor had brought along a ridiculous looking machine that was supposed to resemble him.

Sweet Tooth burst out laughing. "That thing looks dumber than you!" Eggman wasn't amused. "I'm staring at a clown with an ice cream van that he himself modified to shoot rockets. Welcome to my world." Sweet Tooth ignored him and turned his mech around. The robots were preparing to launch punches at Mecha Tooth. The first was met with minigun fire from the ice cream van, while the Starhawk managed to stun the second one enough to get a hit in, knocking it to the ground. The Death Egg Robot had launched itself into the air and landed on the third robot, causing sparks to fly from the machine as it combusted.

The Death Egg Robot prepared to take off again as Mecha Tooth punched another robot to the ground, then sparks flew as the Death Egg Robot crushed it. The Warhawk had changed form and took off into the air, giving both the Mecha Tooth and Death Egg Robot just enough time to get away before three large energy blasts obliterated the robot. The Warhawk returned to its robot form. "Good job, fellas." Emmett congratulated Eggman and Sweet Tooth. Sweet Tooth saluted while Eggman was already gone. The Mecha Tooth slowly turned back into an ice cream van and took off looking for more chaos.

* * *

Kratos stirred up his own bloodbath as all who got close to him learned the hard way that the God of War didn't have much room in his heart for mercy. He had found another of the giant robots that patrolled the city and was scaling it using the Blades of Athena. The robot desperately tried to get him to let go, but Kratos wasn't so easily defeated, eventually finding his way to the top and proceeding to stick the blades in its shoulders and jump to the ground, then pull on the blades in an attempt to get the robot on the ground. The robot collapsed under the pressure, then was hit by Dart and Cloud, causing sparks to fly from the machine.

Before Kratos could lambast the two rpg heroes for stealing his kill, they were gone, and something else was approaching fast. A yellow blast came flying towards the Ghost of Sparta faster than he could react.

BANG! Kratos was blown away by the blast. Metal remained disguised as an ordinary Chimera. "TARGET SIGHTED" Omega opened fire on the android, with Metal using the black shield to deflect the bullets. "So you did show up Omega. Having fun?" He asked. "Affirmative." Metal laughed. "Well, I'd like to hear your answer in a few seconds!" Metal countered, charging for the E-series droid. Omega fired a drill missile, only to have it be knocked away by Metal.

Omega readied himself for the impact, only to be knocked way further back than he could have possibly anticipated. The blast threw him back into an office building, leading it to collapse on top of him.

Metal moved in for the kill, only to be met head on by a barrage of missiles. Omega pulled himself out of the rubble and readied a blast from the Omega cannon. Metal just hovered there as the blast came towards him. Just as it was about to hit him, the black shield came up. "Copy completed." Metal stated. Omega knew what that meant. He readied his minigun and opened fire just as Metal did. The bullets bounced off each other, occasionally making a 'ping!' as they ricocheted off each other's armour. Then Omega stopped, allowing the bullets to pound off him. Metal stopped. "Giving up so soon, Omega?" Omega said nothing. "Where is that pathetic life form that always follows you around?" He asked. "Shadow is elsewhere." Omega responded. Then Metal felt something stick to the back of him. "Really?" Then the blast of electricity hit him. "GAAAAAH!" Metal cried out as the electricity fried him. He fell to the ground, smoke emanating from his circuits.

Cole MacGrath stood over him for a brief second before he was hit by a hail of bullets. Omega quickly cancelled it though, firing the Omega cannon at Metal, forcing him to divert his attention. Cole had taken cover to heal for a second, while Kratos fired the Bow of Apollo at Metal, having recovered.

Metal charged at the God of War again, but this time he was able to couter with the Barbarian Hammer, barely holding off Metal. Then Metal was blown away by a blast from another sword. Nariko held the Heavenly Sword high as Metal barely managed to roll out of the way of another slash before Dart and Cloud joined the mix. Metal looked around. No time to scan and copy, but time enough to list his demands to Omega. Now wasn't a good time to bite off more than he could chew.

"Tell Shadow I'll be expecting him." Metal glared at Omega before taking off. Omega fired after him, but his unreliable target system failed him. "That guy seems to know you." Cole mentioned. "Affirmative." Omega confirmed. "You know who he is?" Cole asked.

Omega would have said yes, and explained to them who Metal Sonic was, and what made him so dangerous. But he thought about Shadow. Shadow wouldn't approve of that, and though he wasn't here, Omega wouldn't say anything. Shadow was his closest ally, and as such, Omega wouldn't betray that trust.

"Negative. I have no prior knowledge of this individual." Omega lied.

But he could still try and get Shadow to confess himself. He knew where he could go to get that done.

* * *

X finally found his nemesis. "X." Sigma grinned. "Where's your old pal?" Zero jumped out from behind X. "Right here!" Zero readied the Z-Blade. "I figured you'd want as much." Sigma remarked. "Well, my Mavericks aren't here, but I figured Vile would be enough help in taking you out." The over-enthusiastic killing machine walked out in front of Sigma. "Open fire, Vile!" The rogue maverick wasted no time in firing his Front Runner shoulder cannon at the two, which X had no time to avoid. Fortunately, Zero was there to fire the Z-Buster in retaliation, causing Vile to focus his attention on Zero. Sigma attacked as well, only cut off by X firing the X buster. Sigma refocused his attention and launched a punch to X's head, knocking the maverick hunter to the ground. He quickly fired a shot at Zero, making him lose his balance before calling over to Vile. "Now Vile, finish him!"

Then there was a loud sudden 'bzzzzt!' sound as Vile froze up. "Huh?" Vile tried to move to no avail. "Why can't I move?!" Sigma was furious. "What?! You waited for this to happen right now?! You imbecile!" The diversion allowed X and Zero to regain focus. "Well, if someone did this to you, who was it?! I don't see anybody!"

"That would be me." A man in a trench coat walked out from behind a building holding his phone. "You're pretty easy to hack, you do know that, right?" Vile wasn't amused. "Ngh! Damn you!" Sigma wasted no more time in firing at Aiden, who barely had time to react. Zero fired back at Sigma, while X switched to Shotgun Ice. The blast didn't freeze Sigma, but it did manage to momentarily blind him. Sigma quickly tried to call for backup. "Hey, you guys, I need-" Bzt! He looked up. The vigilante had done it again, but no matter.

X fired Shotgun Ice again, only for it to be absorbed by Sigma's energy shields and for Sigma to return fire, this time focusing on Aiden. The vigilante barely had time to avoid the shot, and fired back with a heavy machine gun. The gun was deafeningly loud, but the bullets only harmlessly ricocheted off of Sigma as he tried to get a clean shot at him. But neglecting to pay attention to X and Zero proved costly as X used the last of his Shotgun Ice to freeze Sigma in place. As X switched to the Gravity Well, Sigma managed to break his top half free from the ice, just in time to see a yellow blur smash through the ice and put him back on the battlefield, avoiding the Gravity Well. "About time you showed up!" Sigma called out. "Looks like it!" The other called out. He had taken on the form of Storm Eagle, and was preparing to launch an attack on X.

Aiden tried to profile the Storm Eagle imposter, but he wasn't having much luck. He did get some information, aside from random characters, which was presumably a load of scrambled data.

Scan and Copy Ability

Net Annual Income: ¥100,000,000,000

Aiden took out his stun gun and put it in his pocket for easy access. He figured he would need it sooner or later. X changed to the Sonic Slicer and fired at the Storm Eagle imposter, leaving Zero to deal with Sigma.

X fired as Storm Eagle parried and retaliated with a hail of bullets from his arm. X covered his eyes as the storm forced him back, and eventually forced him to switch to Frost Tower, just to give him some time to retaliate. Thinking of what he could use next, X switched to the Magnet Mine and fired. The Storm Eagle clone flew off as the mine gave pursuit, with the mine attracting more and more debris, even sucking in Vile. X switched again, this time to the Homing Torpedo and used all his ammo in one go, watching as every missile joined the magnet mine in pursuit, and to top it all off, he launched Spinning Blades at Storm, and then switched to the Aiming Laser in case of failure.

X should have anticipated what came next, knowing that Storm couldn't possibly be here, but whoever it was, they handled the situation with such grace and aplomb that X couldn't help but admire it. Storm waited for the Spinning Blades to return before cancelling all momentum and flying backwards under the barrage intended for him, as the blades made their return trip, they hit some of the torpedoes, setting off a chain reaction of explosions ending with the Magnet Mine detonating in a fantastic spectacle. X quickly focused on the imposter as he fired a yellow blast at him, countering with the Aimable Laser, continuing to fire at Storm, hoping to knock him off course.

Zero clashed with Sigma, coming face to face with the reploid leader.

"Come on, Zero, I know you're much better than this." He taunted. Zero knew what he wanted, and he wouldn't be fooled that easily.

Then there was a deafening 'BANG!' as Sigma fell forward. Zero noticed a crack in his back armour plating and attacked. "GAH!" Sigma forced himself onto his feet and ran off in the direction of the bullet, leaving Zero to give chase.

Sigma stared at the empty street, seeing barrels, cars and crates, plenty of places for that coward to hide. All of a sudden, he heard a noise. "Hey, you! Over here!" Sigma looked around for it. It came from further down the street, behind one of the crates. Sigma wasn't giving him any time to escape. He dashed over and tossed the crate aside. "Alright, time to-What?!" There was no one there. A voice recorder. Zero had just turned the corner and was readying an attack. "Stay back!" A voice called out. Sigma turned just in time to see Aiden Pearce with his phone in his hand, and his face concealed. Sigma didn't even have time to put up his shields as the steam pipe beneath the road exploded. Sigma could take the blow, but it did hurt him. Enough for Zero to get in another hit. "Attack his back plate!" Aiden ordered. Zero didn't understand the logic behind that, but he nonetheless attacked the back plate, enough for some wiring to become visible. Sigma turned around and used the Sigma Saber to knock Zero away. "Where the hell is that Vigilante?!" Sigma demanded, blowing up every possible cover he could have had. Zero managed to hold back the Sigma Saber with the Z-Saber, allowing Aiden to have a few seconds more. Maybe he could distract Sigma if he gave him what he wanted. "Alright Sigma, you want more power? I'll give it to you!" Zero allowed his usually red armour to be replaced by black armour, as the Z-Saber turned blue from green, finally overwhelming Sigma.

"That's more like it!" Sigma laughed before readying a swing with his own saber. Zero jumped in to counter with his own slash. As the sabers collided, Sigma stepped back, allowing Zero to fall on his face. Sigma pulled back the Sigma Saber and slammed it into Zero's back. "Just as I expected, Zero. You couldn't resist the chance to finally take me down." He slammed down again as Zero tried to get up. "That attitude's gonna cost you big time now." He readied a shot, charging it, and pointing it at Zero's head. "I'm through with you now, Zero! Time to end-" BZZAAAAATTTTT

 **GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!**

Metal stopped his fight with X. "Shit!" He cursed. Time to go, but not before speaking to X. "You. You're a worthy opponent. Shadow could learn a thing or two from you. Unfortunately, I must leave now. I hope to fight you again." X was confused. This guy, he fought like a demon, but...he was giving a compliment? "Huh?" X scratched his head. "I'm giving you my respect!" Metal spelled it out for him. "Don't give me a reason to retract that respect, Maverick Hunter X!" He was off.

Zero heaved himself to his feet as Sigma remained in a hunched position. "I have to hand it to you." Aiden walked out. "Anti-hacking armour plates are pretty impressive. But not impressive enough." He turned to Zero. "You alright?" He asked. Zero nodded, and picked up the Z-Saber and took aim at Sigma, only for the same yellow blast to come speeding through and scooping Sigma off the ground, then taking off away from the city. X shortly followed. "Is everyone alright?" He asked. "Sigma got me good, but I should be okay." Zero replied. They both turned to him.

"Thanks for your help back there. Really aprreciated it." Aiden gave a thumbs up. "I've gotta ask though. How did you hack into Vile and Sigma like that?" Zero asked. "It's kinda my trade. I'll explain later."

* * *

"We're losing badly here!" Radec called out, firing another shot at a Chimera sniper. "Something needs to go right for us now or we're fucked!" John Marston smiled. "Keep your pants on, help will come sooner or later if ya do." He lit another stick of dynamite and threw it over the top of the destroyed bus. They were close to the villains, but that had come at a price. Most of the support that had made it this far was lined with holes. "Come on, Ross!" John yelled, firing his rifle again. "I know you're in there!"

Edgar Ross heard him, but didn't respond. He hadn't even so much as taken out his handgun, but he had men ready to escort him away. "Where are you going?" Zarok asked, away from the commotion. "I'm getting out of here while I still can. Ain't gonna be much longer before Marston and co. get here." Ross explained. Zarok looked out onto the street where Radec and John were under heavy fire. "There's just two of them." Zarok tried to reason. "For how much longer?" Zarok had no good answer. "Fine. Let's go then." So the two of them got ready to abandon ship.

Then there was a soft rumble. "What's that?" Daedalus asked. "It's probably more reinforcements." Stahl answered, shrugging it off. The rumbling continued as a massive battalion came into view from the east. John Marston smiled as he saw the mexican flag. "Reyes you crazy bastard!" He called out. Then they all started firing. The Chimera were unprepared for the overwhelming numbers. "Shit! Those aren't reinforcements, Ross!" Edgar Ross was gone. "Wait, where did you go?!" BANG! "GROAH!" Daedalus howled as his legs were expertly shot off from beneath him.

The All-Stars quickly overwhelmed Daedalus and Stahl, Edgar Ross, Zarok and Black Doom got away while they still could. Eventually, after Daedalus had been killed, Stahl was forced to surrender.

"Hands behind your head, Stahl!" Radec ordered. Stahl obeyed. "Radec. You finally caught up with me after all. Well do-" Nariko grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. "Where's Bohan?!" She demanded. "Gone up north to some town called quiet hill or something like that." Stahl responded calmly. "Silent Hill." Nathan Drake corrected him. "Wasn't that where some of us went for the Master Emerald or something?" He asked. Nariko was gone. "That ain't the worst of it either. Bastard Ross got away too." John added. Kenway surveyed the area. "Well, it looks like our first victory." He said, trying to lighten the mood. "Guess so." Aiden looked on. "Oh, you. You're Aiden Pearce, yes?" Stahl produced something from his pocket. Aiden nodded. "That's me, yeah." Stahl tossed him a voice recorder. "A message for you. From Brenks." He was then escorted away by Radec, Kellan and Danner.

"Siding with not only a Vektan, but also a mercenary?" Stahl laughed. "You might not be as noble as you claim, Radec."

They all came from the same world, making three of them, more represented than any other world. But the three detested each other. Kellan had read all about the mighty Colonel Mael Radec. The hound of Visari, who's undying loyality to Helghan and unrelenting sense of patriotism were known of on both sides of the conflict. If you stepped out of line under Radec, you were either incredibly stupid, or incredibly brave, and either way, you would not live to make that mistake twice. Rumour had it that he killed his own men who didn't follow the dress code. Kellan viewed him as a bloodthirsty warmongerer, wanting little to do with him. Radec just hated Vektans, and Kellan wasn't any different.

Danner hated both of them. It was something his boss once said to him, that 'The ISA and Higs deserve each other' and Danner, despite having tortured and killed his boss, couldn't fault that logic. He was part of Earth's army before war broke out between the Vektans and Helghast, eventually becoming disgruntled and leaving for an elite mercenary group called the Phantom Talon Corp. The PTC trained him to be a super soldier, outclassing both the Vektans and Helghast soldiers. Danner worked on both fronts of the war, and that allowed him to see both sides for what they really were. Another quote he remembered was one that said 'A man shows his best when things are at their worst' and both the Vektans and Helghast had shown themselves to be vile cowards focused on mindless destruction.

Both Radec and Kellan knew about Danner too. He had been living in New Vekta for three years under the alias 'Joseph Capelli' as they found out, unsure of how he spent Twenty-Seven years away from society. Radec knew about Danner's involvement in the ISA invasion of Helghan, coupled with the fact that he just hated mercenaries, it made Danner a prime target for being thrown off a fifty story building in Radec's books.

Kellan knew about Danner's work on both sides that helped prolong the war to the point where the entire planet of Helghan was destroyed, confirming every bad thought he initially had about men who placed a price on the lives of others.

Escorting Stahl away he continued to remind them of how dangerously unstable the alliance was. "Come on, Radec. What would Visari say?" Radec was tempted to cave his skull in with the butt end of his rifle. "You're no saint either, Stahl." Radec shot back. The rest of the trip back was very quiet.

"Wonder what Damien wants?" Aiden pressed play. "Aiden? You there? Good. Now listen closely, 'cause this message is something I'm pretty sure you'll wanna pay extra close attention. I haven't got your family, no, Nicky and Jackson are God knows where, but I do have CTos under my control. I understand also, you and your buddies are trying to get a foothold you can use against us in the long run, pretty smart plan. However! It leaves one very important factor out. Me! Aiden, I can expand my control at a rate of a mile a minute, and the way things are going, it could be even worse for you. If I get full control, heheheh, well Aiden, you of all people should know I'm far more competent than Stahl and Daedalus. If you think you can stop me….you know where to find me Aiden. Don't disappoint me." The recording ended.

"What's that about?" Cloud asked. "It's a challenge. Might even be a trap." Aiden explained. "Damien wants me to go to Chicago and get myself killed." Cloud looked at him weirdly. "How does he plan to do that?"

"Long story. I'll explain when we get back."

 ** _Author's Note_**

So, it's a win for the All-Stars, but how big is it? Jacket seems to be onto something, but notorious for his sociopathic tendencies make it tough for anyone else to work with him. Is hr onto something, or is it all in his head?

I wrote Jacket as the man who fought in WW2 with a sword, just because it seems to work for him in the games. He might bring a sword to a gunfight, but he's also the only one to walk away from the gunfight.

Also just realized that Watch Dogs 2 taking place in SF is really convenient for me, although I was thinking more along the lines of Resistance when I thought of using the city. But still, I haven't bought Watch Dogs 2, but watching cutscene movies, I hate all the characters. I don't want to play as Marcus Holloway and his go lucky band of twats, I want to play as Aiden Pearce and his gravely voice!

Why does Metal Sonic have an annual income? I don't know, he probably has a job. Also, if you found the reference to Resistance, well done.

NOW FOR SOME SCIENCE

Idk why I wanted to do this, but I feel pokemon (+ a few other RPG's) hogs all the attention when it comes to absurd logic in video games, so maybe once in a while if I think of something I find in a game a character in this fanfic is from, I'll post it.

So I don't know why, but I was thinking about this one achievement in Watch Dogs called 'Social Lubricant' in where Aiden must beat 3 opponents in drinking games around Chicago. Not as challening as some people make it out to be, but still sometimes frustrating.

I did all thirty levels back to back because I enjoyed the minigames, and then I found myself thinking about how much alcohol (approx. 300 shots of hard liquor) Aiden drinks in such a short span of time, factoring in the time it takes you to get from place to place (est. 2hrs 10mins) so I put it through a BAC calculator, taking Aiden's weight to be the average for American Men (195lbs)

Knowing that 0.3-0.4% can be fatal, I was a little surprised (and amused) to find that Aiden's BAC is about 6.556%, meaning Aiden has a tolerance for Alcohol at least 22 times stronger than the average man. After quenching his thirst, it would take Aiden just over a fortnight to be legally allowed to drive again, and a few more days after that before he had fully sobered up.

What can I say? I have _way_ too much time on my hands.

Thanks for reading, and Until Next Time!


	36. The Missing Pieces

Devil Jin had finally gotten a replacement leg from Polygon Man. It took a while, but he could finally walk around again instead of having to fly everywhere. So that took him to Gigadis' hell, not too far from Calypso's realm, and Calaca's law firm. "No, no, no!" Gigadis reprimanded his servants. "The statues go on the other side of the lake of fire! Doesn't that make any sense to you?! How are we supposed to see them if they're behind us?!" The servant hung his head in shame. "Well, don't just stand there, I've got more pressing issues to attend to." The servant left as Gigadis returned to a box of grenades. He picked up one and aimed for a target a good Six Hundred yards away and threw. It was like a guided missile, striking the target dead centre. Dracula was staring at Gigadis as he lobbed another grenade at another target. "What's going on here?" Jin asked, confused. "He's been at this for eighty straight hours. I don't know what he hopes to accomplish. He's a good shot though, I'll give him that. He hasn't hit anything but dead centre for the past sixty-three hours." Dracula explained. Jin walked up to Gigadis. "Gigadis?" The prince jumped. "Yes?" Jin waved off his erratic behaviour as exhaustion symptoms. There were rather large bags under his eyes, after all. "What's with the target practice? Dracula says you've been at it for eighty hours." "Well, you see, it's like this." Gigadis produced a vial. "Calypso gave me this, a vial filled with a 'love agent' if you will. So-" "You're gonna throw it at your waifu and have your way with her." Gigadis didn't appreciate the sarcasm and gave him a cold stare. "You're sick. But whatever, none of my concern." Jin flew off, looking for Calaca. "BY THE FEATHERS OF THE ROOSTER DEVIL, I'LL HAVE YOU ALL PROSECUTED!" Jin laughed a little, wondering what drew the strange reaction. He could see the building from which the noise came from, and so decided to pay a visit.

Devil's Advocates

Law Firm

It's in the claim

That was what the sign outside said. Walking inside, he was nearly hit by a filing cabinet. "What's going on in here?" Calaca slammed his fist on his secretary's desk. He was yelling down the end on the phone. "AND THAT'S ANOTHER THING, IF YOU SERIOUSLY THINK THAT IN ANY WAY THE AVENGERS CAN MAKE THIS SPIDER-MAN ANY BETTER THAN THE LAST ONE, YOU MUST HAVE ROCKS FOR BRAINS!" He slammed the phone down with enough force to break the desk, and then realized Jin was watching. "Oh. Ehm, about that, just a friendly debate." Calaca laughed it off. Jin raised an eyebrow. "Look, I really don't care. I just wanna know what you're doing here." The charro skeleton cleared his throat. "I'm going to sue Gigadis!" Calaca proclaimed. "For what?" Jin asked, intrigued. "For stealing hell!" He answered. "You see, Calypso originally was going to give me more power in exchange for work I did for him, but then I thought to myself 'Carlos, you old fool, why not ask that you get to keep all the lawyers that go to hell?' and it was an ingeneous idea! Hell is as good as mine!" He cackled as he called down a thunderbolt behind him. Jin sighed. "You're an idiot." Calaca stopped. "What gives you that idea?" He asked. "First of all, most of the courts were destroyed by those imps you keep sending out to conquer more land. Second of all, even if there were courts left, what the hell kind of a court is gonna deal with that case?" Calaca remained silent. "D'oh, curse you Calypso!" Calaca stormed off down the halls. Jin sighed. Just as he thought, they were both idiots. Why did Calypso bother himself with them?

* * *

"This looks like the place." Spike looked up from the map. The grim streets of Ospylac City lay ahead of them. "Well, best get a move on then." Heihachi walked ahead of the group. The streets looked empty and desolate, almost as if it wasn't intended for people to live there. The colour scheme for the whole city was a dull black colour which ensured that even during the sunniest days under the most blue of skies, it was always a dark day in Ospylac city. Although at night, like it was now, the city was illuminated by bright lights from all the buildings. One building towered above all though. Black like any other, but with a bright neon blue sign on the front that acted as a beacon for the city. It was a 'C' with a diamond or something in the middle of it. 'Calypso Industries.' was underneath it. They weren't supposed to be here. What they were supposed to be doing was making sure the GTA province was safe, but Shadow had led them astray, and none of them were complaining. "So why are we here?" Sacrifice asked, looking around for any signs of life. "There's something here." Shadow answered. "Like what?" Sacrifice asked. "A chaos emerald." They all turned to him. "You. Show me the emeralds." He instructed, turning to Pupuru. "Uh, sure."

Kuu reluctantly surrendered his newly found emeralds as Shadow held them in the palm of his hand. "Six down. One to go. Once that happens..." Shadow stared off into space. "We still don't know the exact location though. Don't get too far ahead of yourself." Alucard brought him back down to earth. The only two who hadn't spoken so far were the mute Juan Aguacate and Isaac Clarke.

"Maybe we should go straight for the tower?" Isaac suggested. "Not a bad idea. But what's up there? I doubt it would be empty. As in, like, completely unguarded."

"Tell you what. I'll go up there on my own. I'll take the chaos emeralds with me. You guys investigate this city, make sure there's nothing of interest." Before they had a chance to object, Shadow was gone. "Guess we're wandering the city now." Isaac shrugged. "Are you sure? What if that Calypso guy they were talking about is around-" Spike gasped. "Ospylac is Calypso backwards." Heihachi rolled his eyes. "Seriously? How could you not figure that out immediately?"

Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. Heihachi turned to see his rival. Juan shook his head in disaproval. He then went over to Spike and flexed his muscles, threw a few punches, and encouraged the group to follow him.

Juan was mysterious. That was what Heihachi thought. He normally would've just branded him a goody two-shoes, or a dumb brute, but the fact that he didn't talk, or interact very much, gave him a third dimension. He seemed very relaxed and peaceful, like he had nothing to lose. When Heihachi first met him, it was the first time he had a proper test of his new youth. In his experience, only two kinds of people fought the way Juan fought. Those who had nothing to lose, and those who had everything to lose. Juan overpowered him, but even then, he didn't utter a single word, but his fighting style was brisk, not like he wanted Heihachi dead, but rather, out of his way. Did he have something to lose? Who knows? Who cares? Heihachi stopped thinking and moved on.

* * *

The Heavenly Sword clashed with Bohan's Battle Axe. The fight had been going on for an hour, and neither side showed any signs of slowing down. On the ground, Pyramid Head and Silent Hill's lesser known inhabitants had killed or scared off most of Bohan's men, and so things were starting to calm down, despite the battle raging on between Nariko and Bohan. Pyramid Head wasn't stopping though. He knew he needed to help, and so he trudged off to the battle, looking to help in the fight, any way he could.

Bohan called in an unkindness of ravens to blind Nariko, before swooping in and tackling her off her feet, which proved to be a mistake as Nariko drove the Heavenly Sword into his back, causing the Raven King to hiss. He took off into the air, taking Nariko with him. Nariko launched a punch for the side of his head, which he answered with a punch of his own.

The fight descended into punch after punch before Bohan got close enough to the ground for Nariko to jump off at, taking the Heavenly Sword out of his back. Pyramid Head lumbered over to her and grunted. "Not now!" Nariko waved him away as Bohan made a return trip. She thrusted the Heavenly Sword at Bohan only for him to avoid it and go for Pyramid Head. The bogeyman grunted as he struggled against Bohan, punching him several times in the head as he was lifted before Bohan dropped him. It was quite the fall as he landed, on his head. The beast roared as a cracking sound was heard. He looked completely broken with the top of his head in the ground and his feet also on the ground trying to pull himself out. As Bohan came down again, Nariko finally had a clean strike on him again, cutting him deep. Nariko retracted the sword and stabbed Bohan again, and again. "This ends now!" She yelled, going for one final stab, only to have it blocked by Bohan's axe. "For you, that is!" Bohan retaliated, as the two weapons remained locked. "You've been a thorn in my side for long enough as it is, Nariko! You and your accursed tribe!"

"It was your own bloody fault! Your greed knows no bounds, Bohan!"

"Power, Nariko. If you are to be a ruler, you need power. Doesn't that make sense?!"

"You're not fit to be a ruler!" Nariko retaliated. "Oh, Nariko, you have n-" He was literally cut off by a knife through his chest. A Great Knife. Nariko was surprised the beast managed to get such a good hit on Bohan, but she took full advantage of his vulnerable and weakened state, readying one last slash with the Heavenly Sword, slicing the Raven King's head clean off. The Pyramid Head parted the rest of Bohan with the Great Knife like a pair of curtains, allowing the two halves to fall to the ground. Nariko breathed a sigh of relief as the Heavenly Sword took back its extra power. That drained a lot of energy from her, but it was satisfying to know Bohan was dead.

The Sword acted as her support as she was too exhausted to stand. She surveyed the ground around her, Bohan's remains, which were as widespread as his kingdom once was, and...something else.

That was when Nariko noticed something. The Pyramid was still stuck in the road, which meant...his face was exposed. Nariko looked at him.

He looked basically like a male J-Horror ghost. His skin was much more pale on his face than anywhere else on his body as well as decaying, save for his neck and shoulders, he had short black hair which clung to the side of his head like a greasy, disgusting parasite. The skin on his neck and shoulders had been ripped and torn by the pyramid cage on his shoulders, exposing a raw red fleshy substance. He didn't seem at all fazed by his lack of cover, although maybe the fog helped him adjust to the light, it really was hard to tell, with no eyebrows and milky, empty and bloodshot eyes, like he hadn't slept since he put on the cage.

"What are you?" Nariko asked the beastly apparition. He ignored her and picked up the cage. It had a mold of his face in it, to prevent it from moving on his head. The Pyramid Head grunted and dragging the Great Knife behind him, disappeared back into the fog. He said one thing, in a voice as nightmarish as he was.

"I did not ask for this."

* * *

There were skeletons in sombreros and ponchos roaming the streets of Ospylac City, trying to attack the All-Stars. They didn't provide too much trouble, as Spike was able to stun them with his stun clubs, allowing Heihachi and Juan to KO them, and also allowing Isaac to use his Plasma Cutter. There were some of them that were completely black, and were immune to attacks from Isaac, Spike and Heihachi, but Alucard, Pupuru and Sacrifice were able to deal with them.

Weirdest of all, Juan was able to turn himself into a silhouette of himself and beat up the other silhouettes. "What kind of an ability is that?" Heihachi demanded as he landed a kick to a skeleton's jaw. "Fight now, questions later!" Sacrifice answered, draining the life of another. Soon, the skeletons were gone, obliterated by the All-Stars. "So now what?"

There was an explosion from Calypso's tower. It was audible, but it didn't look too serious. "Wonder what that was?" Pupuru asked. "That hedgehog's probably run into trouble." Isaac answered. "Maybe we should go help?" Pupuru asked. "Nah. He'll be fine with those emeralds on him. "Alright. So what happens now?" Alucard asked.

"Now, is when I step in." Dracula answered. Then he noticed Alucard. "So you're still here? I assumed they killed you off back in the jungle." Alucard raised his sword. "They didn't do a good enough job." He lunged in with an attack, only to be attacked as Dracula turned into a wolf and lunged at him. Alucard countered by summoning bats to distract Dracula, forcing him to go back to his human form. He started to call in flaming meteors from above, aiming not only at Alucard, but also the other All-Stars.

Sacrifice was able to use his own magic to destroy the meteors while the other All-Stars focused on Dracula. Juan managed to get a few punches in while Heihachi launched a kick to his head. His pyrokinesis, or whatever it was, came in pretty handy for dealing with that. Juan managed to roll through the flames and launch a Rooster Uppercut at Dracula, catching him off guard. He quickly turned into a bat to avoid a rough landing, although that proved to be a mistake. "Hold on, I think I can hit him from here!" Pupuru called out, using her staff to freeze the bat Dracula. Spike caught him in his net. "Alright, that wasn't too bad." Sacrifice spoke too soon. Spike's net was knocked out of his hands by a kick.

"So you're back, Kazama!" Heihachi recognised him immediately. "Not just me!" He whistled, and Madfang Ragewolf came flying into the street towards Isaac. Isaac barely had time to use kinesis before Ragewolf slammed into him, but he got it done, before sending the archfiend flying in the other direction. "Nrrrgghh! My element of surprise is foiled!" He grumbled. "And that bastard Taterazay isn't here either!"

"Oh, don't be so selfish, Madfang." Gigadis appeared, laughing. "Hey, I'd like to remind you that you're only here because of that damn sorceress you're always talking about." Ragewolf shot back, causing Gigadis to stop laughing. "Well...let's not go pointing fingers." Pupuru sighed as she saw the hell prince focus his attention on her. "Today is the day, my love!" He sang. "You shall become mine, and together we will rule over hell!" Heihachi rolled his eyes. Maybe they were perfect for each other, with their bizarre perceptions on what love is, and their equally poor love interests.

"Can we just start beating the crap out of each other?" He asked, looking for any relief from Gigadis' soppy love proclaimations. They all stopped. "Good idea!" Ragewolf agreed, his claws glistening as he launched himself indiscriminately at the All-Stars. As the whole thing descended into chaos, Gigadis took one last look at the vial in his pocket. "One shot." He muttered. "That's all I get. Better make it count."

* * *

Shadow found himself in the office. Unfortunately, he wasn't alone. The chair was turned looking out the window behind the desk. "So you're Shadow?" The voice asked. "Yeah. You must be Calypso then."

The chair swiveled around. "No. Calypso's out today." A skeleton. "I am Carlos Calaca." Shadow readied himself for a fight. "So you're in league with Calypso then?" Calaca managed to warp a few feet forward in front of Shadow. "I supposed you could say that. You must be in league with Mr. Ash." Shadow didn't really consider himself to be in league with Ash, but technically, given the circumstances, that was true. "Yeah. What's his deal with Mr. Ash?" Shadow asked. "None of your concern." Then he attacked. Swiping at Shadow with a dark energy, connecting with the first hit before disappearing. Shadow couldn't pinpoint his location. Until another swipe from behind knocked him forward. "Hehehehehe, you're quite a pushover!" Calaca taunted him. Shadow got up and looked around, only to be hit again. "Much too easy if you ask me!" Shadow remembered the chaos emerald. It was close by, he could sense it.

Only one way to find it. Shadow removed his inhibitor rings as he created an energy field around himself, ignoring further attacks from Calaca. "Chaos..." Calaca started to realize something was wrong as the field grew bigger. He quickly switched to the world of the dead to avoid damage. "BLAST!" That didn't stop Calaca from feeling the full power of the blast. Shadow looked around at the wreckage, before noticing a hole in the wall behind the trophy cabinet. Miraculously, the roof had stayed on.

Shadow ran through the lab, avoiding all of the crazy looking mutants who wanted to rip his head off with ease, going deeper and deeper into the complex, seeing more and more bizarre experiments taking place. Shadow felt his heart racing. He was close, so very close, if he could just pinpoint the location. There was a steel door. Shadow didn't have much time to second guess himself, and so he went straight through the door using Chaos Control. Landing on the other side of the door, there was a scientist.

He looked even more ridiculous than Eggman, with a forehead that looked bigger than the rest of his body, with an 'N' slap bang in the middle. "Just my rotten luck that an All-Star would show up when Calypso and Nefarious are away!" He whined as he took out a weird looking laser gun and fired at Shadow. It was a pathetic little electricity ball traveling at a leisurely pace towards Shadow. He didn't even have to use Chaos Control to avoid it. "I don't have time for this." Shadow muttered before landing a kick to the guy's head. "Now, time to-" Shadow stopped.

Behind the reinforced windows, there was someone strapped up to about a million different machines which Shadow neither knew nor cared about. But one of the wires lead off from the rest towards the window, travelling to the other side, along the wall, and to a little holder. The glisten gave it away. It couldn't be, could it? Shadow removed the wires from it and picked it up. It was. The last Chaos Emerald. "There he is! Get him!" Shadow turned to face Carlos Calaca. He looked at the seven emeralds in his hands. Time to show these idiots who they were dealing with.

The emeralds began to circle him, all by themselves. It started off slowly, but progressively got faster and faster. Eventually, they all came to a screeching halt and entered Shadow. Cortex, who had picked himself up, was already running away as a blinding flash of light came from the ultimate life form. His black and red fur was now bright gold and orange, as a powerful aura emanated from him. "You still think you have a chance?" He asked Calaca. "Attack!" Calaca yelled. "Wrong answer." Shadow smiled. "Chaos...BLAST!" The minions were obliterated, and the building was destroyed, though the test subject was still sealed off from the outside world, obviously they wanted it to stay there, and Shadow figured it was for good reason. Calaca obviously had been blown back, where to? Didn't matter. Shadow's super form then faded, as the Chaos Emeralds returned to his hands. "Obviously I don't have enough energy to keep it up for long." Shadow spoke to himself. "But they don't have rings in this world, so how am I supposed to mantain this form for more than a few seconds? I've gotta find a substitute. I'll discuss this with Omega and Eggman when I get back." He went off to the miraculously intact elevator, not wanting to draw more attention to himself.

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Calaca screamed as he hurtled through the air at unimaginable speeds.

Gigadis heard the screams. Looking around for them, he was only able to pinpoint them as Calaca slammed into the road behind him, sending the asphalt flying everywhere and creating a cloud of dust. The All-Stars didn't stop fighting, and so Calaca immediately threw himself into the fray, looking for his nemesis. "There you are!" Calaca pointed at the luchador. "Now, Juan. We shall settle our differences on the battlefield!" He was then kicked in the back of the head by Heihachi. Juan gave a thumbs up to his rival, which Heihachi ignored before launching another kick at Devil Jin.

Calaca quickly picked himself up and warped above Juan, ready to slam down on him, only to be cancelled out by a Rooster Uppercut from the mute hero.

Isaac fired his Plasma Cutter at Ragewolf, managing to hurt the archfiend, while Spike prepared to trap him in his net. "Now Kid!" Isaac ordered. Spike held his net above his head as he brought it down on Ragewolf, trapping him. "What is this madness?!" Ragewolf shouted from underneath the net. "I demand you release me!" He went on. "Or suffer the consequences!" Isaac went over to congratulate Spike. "Nice job. You handled yourself pretty well." Spike laughed, picking up the net. "Thanks. Though it's not my first time saving the world." Isaac was a little shocked at that. "What?" He asked. Before Spike could answer, Ragewolf burst out of the net in a torpedo. "Haha! Couldn't keep me down forever!" He looked around for an easy target. Pupuru was busy using fire magic to counter Dracula while Alucard looked for an opening. She was a perfect target. Ragewolf launched himself at her, and scored a clean hit on her legs. "Gah! I need some back up over here!" She cried out as blood began to trickle out of some of the scratches, forcing her onto her knees.

Ragewolf was promptly hit in the head by a blast of dark energy. "You idiot!" Gigadis chastised the tempermental villain. "We weren't supp-" He stopped and looked at Pupuru by herself, trying to pick herself up. No one else was near her. That was his golden opportunity.

"I only get one shot." Gigadis muttered to himself, his hand shaking. "I'm so close. Here's to hoping it works." He tossed the vial at the sorceress, who had nowhere to run. The vial hit her straight on. A redish pink gas was released as Pupuru inhaled it. Everyone froze in mid-attack. Time slowed down. Pupuru staggered forward a few feet and collapsed, face down on the asphalt. Gigadis was worried. Had he killed her? Hopefully not. Slowly and carefully, he approached her. "What the hell was that?" Isaac asked himself. "Why are we standing around?" Alucard asked. "We don't know what was in that vial. Maybe it was mind control potion or something." Spike answered.

Gigadis gently lifted her head off the ground. Her nose was bleeding. Nothing too severe, but it must have hurt. "Are...are you okay?" He asked. She slowly opened her eyes, and instantly began smiling dreamily. "Everything's okay now." She giggled. "Because you're here, Gigadis." Gigadis' mouth hung open. He was at a loss for words. "It...it...it worked...IT ACTUALLY WORKED!" He jumped up and began dancing in the street. "ITWORKEDITWORKEDITWORKEDITWORKED!" He scooped his queen up into his arms. "Yes! Now let's get out of here!" Jin was feeling a plethora of emotions, from bewilderment, to disgust, to pure shock. "What about the All-Stars, we can't just-" "Ah, to hell with 'em, actually, no, I need some alone time with my queen there, let's just go!" Gigadis clicked his fingers and warped himself and Pupuru to the underworld. Jin said nothing and flew away, unpursued, to bang his head against a wall for three hours. Ragewolf shrugged and headed home. Taterazay wasn't there, so it wasn't like he had any reason to stay, especially after what he had seen. Ragewolf shuddered as he made his way back, wanting to erase all thoughts of Gigadis and his waifu from his mind, and hopefully, later on, from existance. Dracula had already turned into a bat and flew away into the night sky.

The All-Stars were speechless. What the hell was that? What...why...when...ugh. How were they going to explain that to Shadow?

Speak of the devil, the hedgehog appeared before them- wait. Was the edgelord...smiling? Smiling?! On top of everything else?! Was this the day hell froze over?!

Shadow's expression returned to normal as he noticed they looked like they had seen a ghost. "Everything okay?" Shadow asked. He looked around. "Let's see...1,2,3,4,5,6...where's the sorceress?" None of them spoke. "Well? Do any of you know?"

"That man, Gigadis. He had a vial of sorts...anyway, he managed to throw it at the young sorceress, who ingested it, and well..." Alucard was having a tough time explaining it. "She's gone with him to hell. That stuff might have been a love potion or something." Heihachi stated bluntly. Shadow blinked. "What?"

"You heard me. They're a couple now." Heihachi repeated. Shadow thought about it for a second before shaking his head. "Ugh, look. We'll deal with that later. There's at least some good news." His smile returned. "What could that possibly be?" Sacrifice asked.

"I might not be able to count seven All-Stars in front of me, but I am able to count in my hands, Seven Chaos Emeralds."

 **Author's Note**

Finally, all Seven Chaos Emeralds! But will it be enough against Polygon Man?

So yeah, Gigadis actually succeeds in his goal...no trickery or anything. Really, that's what happens. I did laugh at some of his lines in the game, he was an entertaining character in Sorcery Saga and I felt he deserved one small victory. (especially given what he's got coming his way in future chapters.)

I don't believe it myself, but yeah, Unkindness is the term used for a collective group of ravens, also called a conspiracy or a constable.

I also did Pyramid Head's face reveal. I know that it's assumed that the Pyramid is his head, and not something he wears, I have ideas as to why it would be a human-like creature wearing the Pyramid as opposed to it being a part of his anatomy.

I also don't share Calaca's opinions on Tom Holland as Spiderman. (Homecoming might actually be the best Spiderman. Though it's missing J.K. Simmons.)


	37. San Andreas

"Man. I usually suspect Nefarious for this stuff, but even I think that this is beyond him." Ratchet remarked as the group approached San Andreas. They too were tasked with making sure the GTA province was safe, but unlike Shadow's group, they weren't sidetracked. Of course, they didn't know about that, simply believing themselves to be way ahead of schedule.

"Well, we know that he's allied with some very powerful people. Who knows what he could be capable of?" Clank replied. "You're probably right. Still, doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to take care of it."

Dan Hibiki was practising his sparring poses, though they made him look ridiculous, he insisted that it helped. His rival, Johnny Cage, was shaking his head in disapproval. Sure, he was fairly prideful as well, but Hibiki demonstrated levels of vanity that would have put a cat to shame. Of course, he was full of hot air. Johnny wiped the floor with him. But that was a matter for another time. All that mattered was that no one died.

Fat Princess was there too, with her seemingly never ending supply of cake to keep herself occupied. Her guards protected her like she was a goddess or something. They also brought along the Parappa and Ethan, although they only had one leader.

"Just remember that I'm the leader here. I know these streets like the back of my hand." CJ took out an assault rifle and readied it. "We're gonna be flanked from anywhere and everywhere once we get in, assuming they're already here. I don't wanna have to be responsible for tellin' that Kutaragi guy one of you got killed doin' some stupid shit like runnin' off on your own." Big Daddy groaned. "That goes for you too, big fella." His eyes turned red.

"It's okay Mr. CJ. We'll be careful, right Mr. B?" The creatures eyes turned green again as he groaned in approval. CJ was really on his own here, with no one he was really familiar with. Even those he got to know, such as Kobe, Kellan and his estranged rival, Jacket, were all off doing different things. Kobe was off with Messi in some real world cities attempting to restore some order. Kutaragi figured that since people knew who they were, they would be trusted more than any other All-Stars by the public. Jacket and Kellan were off in San Francisco, fighting for control of the city, last he heard of them. Were they still fighting? Who knew? He hoped they were ok, although knowing how giddy his rival got when fighting was involved, he really should have been more concerned for the other side. He put the assault rifle on his back, satisfied that it was functional, and moved on to his home town.

Arriving in San Andreas, things were obviously not okay. The Black Arms were everywhere, just sort of resting, as all their work was seemingly done.

"Well, looks like our work is cut out for us." CJ muttered, cocking a shotgun. Then he turned to Fat Princess. "You got those little garden gnomes with you?" She scowled. "Well if you must know, my guards are always with me, you ruffian." CJ ignored the insult. "Ethan, Dan, Johnny, you guys come with me. Cat-guy, Kung-fu dog and Big fella can do as they please. Same goes for you too, princess." They split up into two groups and went about trying to clean up the city in some way.

* * *

"Alright, Stahl. You'll stay in this room for the duration of the flight, you'll find everything you need in here, and if the flight is long, we will provide you with food." Kellan explained to his prisoner. "Why are you siding with them, Radec? You know we have much more in common." Stahl was trying to get under the colonel's skin. "If you want to talk about loyalty to the Helghast, I think hiring an army for your own personal gain and siding with someone pledged to our destruction gives you a disadvantage." Radec responded. "Oh Radec. Was it not you who helped me for many of those deeds?" Danner laughed as Stahl said that. "What's so funny, merc?" Radec leered. "He's right. I hate to admit it, but he is spot on." Kellan was about to chastise the mercenary for trying to incite violence, but Radec stopped him, having a knife pointed at his neck. "Don't try and fight me, merc." Then there was the sound of guns clicking.

John Marston had two revolvers pointed at the futuristic soldiers. "I don't think we can afford any skirmishes between ourselves boys. Let's not fight." Stahl laughed. "You must be John Marston. Edgar Ross told me about you." John didn't lower his guns, opting to listen to Stahl.

"He sent his men to kill you, yes?" John remembered. Ross wanted his old criminal gang dead, so he sent John to kill all his old friends. When that was done, only one member remained, that member being John himself. Trapped in a barn with his wife and son, he gave them the only horse he had and faced Ross' men alone.

Of course, he died. But that wasn't how John remembered it. In his mind, one stick of dynamite through the top window of the barn got rid of most of them, and he was able to finish off the rest. So what happened then? Well, he knew he was a wanted man after that stunt, and a threat to his family's safety, so he ran, and set up a quiet life for himself, until that day, where a portal opened up and took him to Black Rock stadium. You know the rest.

"After he killed you, he assumed that was that from your gang. But there was one stone left unturned. Your boy, Jack, three years later went off looking for Ross, after his mother killed herself in grief. So Jack decided to settle the scores with Ross. Tied up his wife and son, then locked them inside the house and burned it to the ground. But no, he wasn't satisfied. He found Edgar, and killed him too. Or so he thought."

John tried to keep his cool. His wife was dead. All that hard work for nothing, because of that bastard, Edgar Ross. "Polygon Man found him in the nick of time, healing him, and giving him the necessary power to find your boy, and send him off to his mother and father. A family reunion."

John by this point was struggling to keep both guns steady. "If you ever see Ross again, tell him I'm gonna skin him alive and make him eat it." He snarled. More people came into the room. "You seriously think you have a chance against him?" He laughed. "You'll end up just like-" Edward Kenway punched him. "That's enough!" Then he noticed his rival aiming his guns at Stahl. "No!" He tackled his rival to the ground, knocking the guns out of his hands. "Are you mad?! We need him alive!" He was promptly shoved off by John. "Hell yeah I'm mad! Mad that this bastard here is the one to tell me my family is gone!" He screamed into Edward's face. "Get a hold of yourself!" Edward got back up. John threw a punch at his face, which Edward avoided. "Get a grip!" He yelled. "Can't you see that he's trying to get himself killed?!" Another voice entered the room.

Jacket. He had taken off his mask, opting to just go in unarmed. "I've seen this tactic before." They all stopped. "He's not going to crack easily."

"Why don't you fulfill his death wish?" Jacket looked around. Oh no. The room had become much darker, with lights hanging above everyone's heads. One man caught his attention. The man in a rubber chicken mask. "He's an old man. Help him on his way." Jacket looked around. Everyone else was wearing a rubber chicken mask, as they all stared at him eagerly, as if they were anticipating something. "I thought I told you to piss off!" Jacket hissed. "No. No, you didn't." The man responded. "Why would you do that though? You need me, Jacket. Though you won't say it, you are completely dependent on me." He taunted. Jacket felt his hand tighten into a fist.

The other All-Stars just stared at him. Even more had come into the room, including Lara, Nathan Hale and Drake, Aiden and the Chimera. "Is everything ok?" Drake asked as Jacket stared down an empty corner of the room. "Last chance! What?! What do you mean none of this is real?! It's pretty fuckin' real to me!" He yelled. Then he turned to Kellan. "Goddamn! I said to leave me alone!" He launched an almighty punch to the Shadow Marshall's face, prompting all hell to break loose. Danner and Radec started fighting, as well as Edward and John, while the other All-Stars in the room tried unsuccessfully to separate those who were fighting. Stahl didn't bother trying to get up, noticing only one All-Star paying attention to him.

Arc walked up to Stahl, sword in hand. "You know what has to happen, right?" Stahl nodded. Arc readied his sword, and plunged it through Stahl's throat. The fighting stopped as quickly as it had started.

They all stared in silence as Arc slowly retracted his blade, leaving Stahl's lifeless body on the chair. He walked away, untouched.

"What the hell?" Nathan Hale was confused. "Idiot!" Radec cursed. "Now what are we going to do for intel?!" He stormed off.

Jacket had taken one hell of a beating. After all that, the only thing he could do was sit against a nearby wall as he struggled to remain awake.

As more All-Stars poured out, only a few remained. "I blame you, okay?" Nathan Drake informed him. "What do you think he saw when he just started screaming at the wall like that?" Lara asked. Drake shrugged. "Beats me. We should go after that sword guy, before another fight breaks out." He suggested before turning to Jacket. "Sleep tight." He left the room along with Lara.

Jacket slipped into unconciousness as he sat against the wall. If only they knew about what that guy had made him do. At least one person believed him. Though they weren't here.

He remembered sitting at a table at one of the lounges on the deck where everyone slept. Just minding his own business until two cats walked up to him. One white and one black. Jacket ignored them until the white cat started speaking to him. "Jacket-san!" The white cat mewed. Then he held up a notepad with a sketch drawn on it.

It was him. Jacket looked at the cat, wearing the exact same chicken mask as he was sketched wearing. "What's this?" Jacket asked. "I drew this after playing your game, Jacket-san! Easily one of the best games of 2012, and that's saying a lot!" Jacket was still coming to terms with the fact that he was a video game character, but already being slightly crazy did help soften the blow of finding out. "I thought you hated violence." His friend reminded him. "That's water under a bridge! The top-down arcade style gameplay was fantastic, along with the retro graphics and catchy soundtrack!" The white cat explained.

"Your girlfriend was-" The black cat started, before Jacket gave him an icy stare. He was really tempted to beat him to death, but he remembered it was just a cat, and that on the airship, that was impossible. "Kuro! You mustn't talk about such things in such a casual manner!" The white cat scolded his friend. "Please may I have your autograph?" The white cat asked, handing Jacket a pencil. Jacket obliged, signing as 'Jacket' and handing the stuff back to the white cat. He seemed over the moon with what he had gotten. "Thank you, Jacket-san!" He mewed, leaving with Kuro.

He sat there for only a few more seconds before someone else walked up to him. A man in a black leather jacket, jeans and a white shirt, with short black hair. "Hey man." He greeted Jacket. "Do I know you?" Was Jacket's response. The man laughed. "Uh, I guess not." He sat down opposite Jacket. "Look, I saw you drive in Twisted Metal. You were pretty good." He said. Jacket still kept his mask on. "What of it?" He asked.

"Well, it's my belief that someone who drives that well has something that drives them. Something that makes them good." The man explained. "I want to know what your drive is." Jacket wasn't prepared for that. "Huh?"

"Why did you enter Twisted Metal?" The man asked. Jacket shrugged. "Just happened to be there." The man looked at him as if he had three heads, but said nothing. "What were you doing there?" He asked.

Jacket thought about telling the guy his entire story. Was it a good idea? Probably not. But if this guy wanted to know, what bad could it do?

"Well. That's a long story, but to summarise, I killed a lot of people. I kept getting these phone calls, telling me to do trivial shit, like babysit, or DJ at a nightclub. But every time I got to the address, it was filled to the brim with russian mobsters. The instructions were always clear; Kill everyone inside the building. First time I did it, I was literally sick, but as I did more and more, I even started to like it. It drove me mad, to the point where I couldn't tell what was real anymore. But eventually, all my crimes caught up with me, and I was given the death sentence."

He remembered the day he was supposed to die, which, come to think of it, wasn't that long ago.

* * *

He sat there as the officer stared him down. Jacket remained largely unfazed. He had finally been caught for everything he did. "What's the death toll?" He asked. "1,453." The officer responded. "Best in the business by a fucking country mile." He spat. "I'd ask you why you did it, but you don't even know yourself, do you?" Jacket said nothing. His attention had been turned to a phone on the table. Oh God. It was ringing. "The phone's ringing." Jacket said as he observed the device. It looked a lot like his phone. "There's no phone in here." The officer told him. Jacket shook his head. "It's right there." He pointed to the spot on the desk. "Won't you answer it?" The officer shook his head. "You're gonna fry for what you did." He stood up. "Please. Answer the phone." Jacket was getting increasingly desperate, knowing who was on the other end. "You've gotta answer it!" He demanded. "Look buddy, I know you're a little fucked in the head, but there is no phone in this goddamn room!" He went to the door, to unlock it and step out.

Jacket couldn't take it anymore. He answered the phone. "You know what to do." The voice said. Jacket looked over to the corner of the room. It was a man in a chicken mask. His chicken mask. His letterman jacket. His jeans. He was grinning wildly at Jacket, with the phone up against his ear. "Look at him. He's just asking for it. Who are you to deny the man his dying wish?"

Jacket stared at the officer. He got up from his chair, walking over to the officer. He still hadn't noticed. "KILL HIM!" The masked man ordered. Jacket launched a punch to the back of his head, sending the door flying open, knocking down the guard on the other side of the door as well. Jacket snatched his truncheon from him and came down on his skull, going further and further into his fear induced rage.

The next thing he knew, he was standing in front of the warden in his office. The warden's eyes were glazed, as his head hung loosely from his neck over the back of his chair, exposing everything that would have made any other person pass out. But not Jacket. He knew what was outside. He knew he would have to face it.

Stepping outside into the bloodbath he had created, with nothing but the occasional drip as blood came off his once orange prison jumpsuit, or the small splash as he stepped in a pool of blood. The prison was well lit, allowing Jacket plenty of time to reflect on what he had done. Then he heard footsteps. "Well done." The guy in the chicken mask.

It didn't scare him. It didn't anger him. It upset him. That person wearing the chicken mask, it was him. The monster which he had become. He could no longer look himself in the eye and call himself Richard. He was Jacket. The Miami Mutilator. "Leave me alone." Jacket growled, stepping forward. The man showed no signs of any emotion, other than joy. "I just wanted to say goodbye." Jacket was confused. "What do you mean?"

"This dream here Jacket." He clicked his fingers, causing all the blood and dead bodies to disappear. "I wanted us to have one last adventure together. Before you went away." Jacket took a step back. "You go out with quite the bang." The man laughed. "But you need your sleep. For your big day, of course." Before Jacket could ask any more questions, or make any more remarks, the man was gone.

The entire prison was dark, except for one light source. Jacket followed it, leading up to the only open prison cell, probably in the entire prison. It was his prison cell. All his belongings were exactly where he left them, his Bible, his journal, his other books. He himself was lying down on the bed, fast asleep. Of course. It was all a dream. Today was the day he was to be executed by electric chair. Jacket got into bed, lying down in exactly the same position as his body.

That was when he woke up. Looking around, it was still very early. All the other inmates on death row were still fast asleep, and the guards were not yelling at him to wake up. There was a clock hanging above the door at the end of death row which all prisoners used to tell the time. Looking at it from behind the bars, Jacket noticed it was 5:38 AM. Not due to wake up for another hour and a half. But he wasn't going back to sleep. Getting up, he wondered why he was up so early. It wasn't that he liked to sleep in, as he generally woke up at around the same time as he did in prison, but never this early.

Then there was the sound of planes flying overhead. Jacket went over to his window to see what it could be. There were five planes, four fighter jets, and one bomber. Weird. Those planes never flew over Miami like that. Even stranger, there were flags on the side of all five planes, not the star spangled banner, but the hammer sickle. The bomber waited until it was over the city, and dropped its bomb. When it hit, the explosion was massive. He doubted whether or not anything could survive such a devastating blast, as he had seen before-wait. He had seen it before. Oh no. That was a nuclear bomb.

He stood back from the window. Even though he was already supposed to die today, it looked like someone decided the electric chair would be too generous. He looked around at all the other inmates, still asleep. Perhaps things would be better if left that way. So they could all die peacefully. Those were Jackets final thoughts as the blast consumed him, blinding him, sending pieces of the prison flying in his face as he was buried underneath the rubble.

Of course, what actually happened next was that he did die, and he was brought back in Paris. But that wasn't how he remembered it.

* * *

"When I woke up, I knew them bastards were responsible for what happened. So I found out where they were headed next, some place in Paris, so I went there, and that was where I met the All-Stars."

Mr. Ash listened. "So no one else can see or hear this guy." He said, attempting to understand. "What about the phone calls? They were real, from what I understand." Jacket nodded. "That was all real. A lot of other people got them too. Spoke to some of 'em, now they're all dead." Mr. Ash nodded. "You got the guys responsible, yeah?" Jacket nodded. "Died in Paris with that Calypso guy's competition." Mr. Ash thought about it for a second. "Seems to me like a guilt complex. You don't like murder. But you feel you need to do it anyway, so you create an alter ego, someone to take the blame for what you do. In this case, many."

Jacket was surprised. That was exactly what had happened. "How did you-" "I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, Jacket. I may look only thirty-one years old, but really, I'm four hundred and ninety-four years old." Jacket was skeptical, although given what he had seen so far, it probably wasn't that farfetched. "Eh? Care to elaborate?" He asked. Mr. Ash produced a newspaper from his jacket. It was worn, torn, and faded, very hard to make out, but Jacket could read the date. '15th August, 1545.'

Mr. Ash explained his story to Jacket, from birth up until that point, as Jacket listened. "I see. So you're the devil-" "Well, no. I just happen to be friends with the guy who used to rule hell. Not the devil, by the way." Mr. Ash corrected him. "Calypso, the guy I spoke to, stole your powers, and now he wants you eliminated for good." Mr. Ash nodded.

"Well, I don't know. Seems farfetched, but...honestly, with all the shit I've seen so far, I can't really say I'm completely unconvinced." Mr. Ash smiled. "Good. Give it time to set in, and it'll make more sense. Now, tell me about how you got that far, but in more detail."

Jacket then started talking with Mr. Ash, up until the point where he wasn't paying attention to where he was walking, and bumped into Zeus. You know the rest.

Jacket did eventually come around to the idea that Mr. Ash was someone that powerful, if not only for his display against Zeus

As he finally came around, Jacket had to wonder where he was, and how he was doing.

* * *

"Oh Jesus kid, I'm not gonna hold your hand. If she's still mad, let the cat die." Delsin shot him a glare. "Alright, I apologize for that last part. But seriously, she seems okay, so I don't think she'll try and kill you." Mr. Ash explained. "Besides, her friends seem pretty cool with you." Delsin sighed. "Fine, if you're sure." He walked off towards Kat's quarters. "Let me know how goes, okay?"

Delsin had no idea what he was doing. He was standing outside the door like an idiot, trapped in thought. Should he just leave the photo and the antidote there, or should he go in? Maybe she was still upset, but...Delsin thought. He was pretty down when she came to him. He made up his mind. He knocked. Surprisingly, she opened the door, looking pretty much the same as when he last saw her.

"Uh...hi." Delsin awkwardly raised his hand. "I…..uh….I got you some stuff." Kat took it. "Mind if I come in?" Delsin asked. Kat had already disappeared back into her quarters, leaving the door wide open. Delsin took that as a yes, walking inside the jungle that was Kat's bedroom. "Mr. Ash told me about what you were doing." Kat explained. "Sorry I lashed out at you. I was just...upset." Delsin waved it off. "It's okay. I understand. Y'know, from what I hear, you're pretty popular around Hekseville. You and your protégé." Kat turned to face him. "Raven?" Delsin nodded, taking out his phone. "Got a nice photo with her. You know, she really misses you." Kat snatched the phone out of his hands. "Raven...did you meet anyone else?" Kat asked. "Gade. He's pretty weird." Kat laughed. "Yeah. Gade is strange. But nice." Delsin almost forgot the antidote. "Here." He said, handing the antidote to the gravity shifter. "Give this to Dusty and he should be better instantly." Delsin explained. Kat took a teaspoon and tried to give Dusty the medicene. He was in a fragile state, barely alive. He couldn't provide much resistance at all in his weakened state, as all the medicene seamlessly fell down his throat. The two waited in silence for a reaction.

They didn't have long to wait, as Dusty started coughing profusely, eventually sitting up and trying to wipe the awful taste off on his paws. "Dusty!" Kat exclaimed as she picked the cat up and held him above her head, earning a confused 'meow?' from him. She pulled the cat into her chest, although he wasn't too keen on it, eventually escaping back into his basket. Kat then turned her attention to Delsin, in another one of her bone shattering hugs, pinning him up against a wall between ten million thank yous. She lifted her head, staring into his eyes with that glow only she had. Delsin didn't really know what to say. Her eyes were captivating like that. He could have stared into them for ages. But that wasn't what happened. Instead, something Delsin had no idea would ever happen.

She planted her lips on his. Wait, what? Delsin's eyes went wide. What was happening? Did he push her off? Kiss back? As all those thoughts ran through his mind, Kat slowly opened her eyes and realized what she was doing. She quickly pulled away, eyes as wide as Delsin's as her cheeks flared bright red. "Oh! I-I-Sorry-I wasn't thinking-I just wanted to say thanks for saving Dusty!" She blurted out, trying and failing to hide her blush. Delsin was equally as stunned, with no idea how to respond to that. It wasn't like he could just pretend it didn't happen, but where did that leave him? "Uh-yeah, I should get going-I mean, nice talking to you and all, it's just that-" He tried to come up with something as he walked to the door. "O-of course! See ya!" Kat disappeared into her bathroom as Delsin opened the door, walking out into the hall. Going back to his quarters without telling Mr. Ash, he had a lot to think about.

* * *

"Well, can't say I expected things to be easy." Ratchet remarked as he smashed another robot with his Omniwrench. They were recognizably Dr. Nefarious' robots, in that they looked like them, and that they were easily destroyed by Ratchet. The other three All-Stars to deal with the Black Arms while he moved on, not that if mattered too much.

"Ratchet! Look out!" Clank warned the lombax as he barely managed to avoid a laser that was fired at him. "Oh, hey Doc!" Ratchet waved. "So Ratchet, you finally show your face!" The doctor laughed, landing in front of Ratchet. "Well, I haven't really been hiding, so-" "Silence! I will end you here, with my Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler!" He proclaimed, as the contraption made came down from the sky. "Hey, I think I remember this thing!" Ratchet threw his Omniwrench and managed to blow it up in one hit, leaving Nefarious to have a temper tantrum. "Curse you Ratchet! I'll be back, and I will have my revenge!" He pouted as he was 'forced' to retreat. Little did he know there was another villain watching him from not too far away.

"Pathetic." He shook his head. "Guess I'll have to do it myself."

* * *

CJ fired with the minigun, decimating the hordes and tearing through everything else in plain sight. Ethan Mars was responsible for finding anyone left in San Andreas and telling them to get out while they still could. There were soldiers there, though they weren't friendly, firing back at CJ. Johnny had a gun too, using it to take out unsuspecting enemies, while Dan...what was Dan doing? He was trying to get an energy blast to fly from his hands towards the soldiers, though the results were extremely underwhelming. He somehow hadn't been hit, maybe because the soldiers didn't view him as a threat.

* * *

"Well, I can't say I'm disappointed. But I am a little underwhelmed. I thought Nefarious would be much better than that." Ratchet remarked, looking for something else to fight. "It is perhaps possible that Doctor Nefarious underestimated our abilities, or more fittingly, overestimated his own." Clank suggested. "Guess you're right. But still, if this is the best we have to deal with, we'll probably be done with the All-Stars soon."

"I wouldn't reccomend getting your hopes up." Clank advised, pointing to something behind Ratchet. "Why's that?" Ratchet turned. Doctor Nefarious? Didn't they just...? "Clank, didn't we just take care of Nefarious?" The Lombax asked his robotic companion. "It appears not."

Metal had been told Shadow would show up here, though he had yet to see him. This tag-team would suffice for target practice. Maybe there were some abilites he could use. Scanning the two, there was nothing special. No matter. Metal wasn't too fussy, he was more than happy for just target practice.

* * *

"Well, that looks like everyone." Ethan dusted his hands off. "Sure does. But the sky's still red." CJ noticed something else on the horizon, but he was immediately cut off by someone who had arrived at the end of the street. A woman, with short hair and a blue trench coat. "Everything okay down there?!" CJ called out. In response, she fired something from her hand that narrowly missed CJ's head. Obviously a bad person. Then there was an explosion in the near distance. "What the hell was that?" The woman laughed. "That would be the least of your worries." Johnny was first into action, firing his assault rifle at the woman, not yielding too many positive results.

One of the All-Stars was on a completely different page. Dan Hibiki was rushing in to do the talking with his fists. "What the hell are you doing?!" It was Ethan Mars. "Get out of the way of the gunfire!" He yelled. Dan wasn't listening, getting ready to use a Dan-Kuakyaku on the woman with concrete powers.

As Brooke Augustine stopped as the man in the pink gi with a simple concrete shield, he fell to the ground ungracefully, rolling around and holding his kicking foot. "It's okay, I'm good!" He shouted up to the other All-Stars. Dan looked anything but okay. "That was pretty stupid." Augustine remarked, bringing up a concrete shield to block a heat seeking missile from CJ. "Ngh! It...usually...goes...much...better." He managed to get out between heavy breathing as he tried to take the pain.

"I somehow doubt that." She laughed as concrete shrapnels started to come out of Dan's legs and arms, causing him to scream in pain. Brooke ignored him and moved on.

The other All-Stars were horrified. "Drop your weapons boys! Or you'll end up like your friend here." None of them did, continuing to fire at her.

As Dan lay there writhing in agony, he thought about everything again. He had told Sakura and Blanka to look after his dojo, which they gladly did, though that might have been a mistake. He could've really used some help now. Though the help he was going to get was something much better...

As Augustine fired more concrete shrapnels at the All-Stars, and got closer, they began to regret not dropping their weapons. "Any last words?" She asked them as she blew away anything they could use for cover.

 ** _"DIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!"_**

The kick was incredibly powerful, knocking Augustine face first into the road. She got up and turned around to see Dan Hibiki, only this time with a dark purple aura surrounding himself, along with glowing red eyes. "So you've recovered? Alright, guess I'll have to try harder than that!" She readied an attack, surrounding herself in conrete, rolling up into a ball and charging at Dan. **_"GADOUKEN!"_** He yelled as a massive energy blast reduced the concrete ball to dust. She most certainly wasn't expecting that. Trying to get another attack in, she launched conrete shrapnels at Dan, only for him to roll under the attack. **_"SHORYUKEN!"_** He yelled as he jumped into the air, uppercutting Augustine. As she rose into the air again, Dan readied one last attack, to finish the fight. **_"DAN KUAKYAKU!"_** He yelled, connecting perfectly with his flying kick, and sending Augustine flying far away from San Andreas.

Realizing his target was gone, the enraged Dan punched the ground, causing the whole city to shake, or whatever was left of it. That seemed to do the trick as Dan had stopped glowing purple.

The other All-Stars were stunned. Where the hell did that come out of? From Dan Hibiki, it took him less than 30 seconds to completely obliterate Augustine without sustaining so much as a scratch. But right now, the destruction had opened the view for the group quite a bit, to the point where they could see another fight going on.

Fat Princess missed Metal once again, landing on the ground as Metal launched another attack at Big Daddy, with each attack hurting him, but not enough to keep him down. "This guy's tough. There's no way he could be Nefarious!" Ratchet exclaimed as he took out his RYNO V and started firing, though the imposter was agile enough to avoid every single shot. Then a blinding golden orange light shot through, tackling the Nefarious imposter all the way to the other side of town. His disguise faded as he hit the ground, relatively unscathed.

Metal turned to face Shadow. "Again?" Shadow walked up to him. "I'm here to challenge you." Shadow answered. Metal understood. "So you finally got all the chaos emeralds. Well done." Shadow got into a fighting stance. "I won't fight you now." Metal answered. Shadow smirked. "You afraid I'll beat you into a pulp or something?" Metal walked up to Shadow. "The time is not now. You'll have to get much closer to Polygon Man." Shadow wasn't buying it. "No, Metal. You'll pay for wha-" "Oh don't start. I have neither the time nor the interest required to listen to you. But I do want to fight you. I had hoped for an easy victory over you at first, but after seeing how easy I could've had it, I realized I wanted to beat you at your best. Right now, you probably couldn't keep that up for more than a minute. Now listen closely! Here's a few hints on how you can get far enough to challenge me. You need a teleporter, any standard one will do. The tricky part comes with programming it to open the portal to Polygon Man. One of us knows how to do it, and it's not me. You also need the power to allow the portal to travel between dimensions. The Chaos Emeralds would suffice, but you would need those to fight me as well. So you need another source of equal power, and I think you know where you'll find that. As if that wasn't enough, you'll also need to set it up in another dimension, as with your limited power, as well as the power of Polygon Man, you couldn't make that far of a dimensional leap. Only then will I fight you." Metal explained.

"Tch! That's it? Not much help, I'm afraid." Shadow spat. "It's all the help you're getting. I've given you too much as it is, without actually walking you through it." Metal countered. "I went through a lot of work to find out that much, so consider yourself thankful that you have a lead. I could have simply left you to run around in circles, but I didn't. Don't disappoint me, Shadow."

With that, he took off. San Andreas was slowly returning to normal. The sky changed back to a nice blue, the aliens were gone, and it seemed like only a matter of time before San Andreas would be rebuilt. But there was a wall about a mile away, rippling like water, only it extended beyond the clouds. On the other side, the sky was darker. It looked artificial, synthetic, like the world on the other side could be plugged out.

Shadow shrugged it off for now, looking to find the rest of the group. His super form had faded, but still, before long, he found them all waiting to go at the outskirts of the city.

"So what now?" Isaac asked. "Right now, we head back. Decided what to do there." They all agreed on that. "Just one issue. How are we gonna get back to the airship?" Spike asked. "The ship is docked just across the continent. Shouldn't take more than a few days walking to get back." CJ said, rather nonchalantly.

They had a lot to get through once they got back.

 ** _Author's Note_**

I think this is the longest chapter I've written so far. I initially had 2 chapters I was too lazy to finish, so I mashed them together and finished one chapter instead.

As for where I intend to complete the story, I'm not entirely sure, but I'm definitely over halfway by this point, perhaps approaching the three quarters mark.

Do I ship? Not often, truth be told. This is definitely a first for me.

I orignially wanted the Ratchet vs Nefarious fight to be longer and more serious, but I decided the chapter was long enough as it was. So Metal is providing some help as well, only because he wants a fight. Strange, isn't it?

I figured I should say who I have winning in every rivalry, so here it is.

For the first game, first.

Kratos beats Sweet Tooth

Parappa the Rapper beats Spike

Cole MacGrath beats Raiden

Fat Princess loses to Evil Cole

Big Daddy loses to Sackboy

Dante loses to Nariko

Toro Inoue loses to Heihachi Mishima

Ratchet and Clank beat Jak and Daxter

Sly Cooper beats Nathan Drake

Sir Daniel Fortesque loses to Colonel Radec

Isaac Clarke loses to Zeus

Kat beats Emmett Graves

Then for my fanfic

Crash Bandicoot loses to Knack

Taterazay beats Deviants and Lemmings

Kratos beats Nariko

Nathan Drake loses to Lara Croft

Dart Feld beats Spyro the Dragon

Sackboy beats Iota

Cole MacGrath loses to Colonel Radec

Zeus loses to Shadow the Hedgehog

Jak and Daxter lose to Ratchet and Clank

Aiden Pearce beats Sly Cooper

Pyramid Head loses to Ethan Mars

Chimera Hybrid loses to Lucas Kellan

Cloud Strife beats Ico

Sweet Tooth loses to Deadpool

Nathan Hale loses to Arran Danner

John Marston beats Edward Kenway

Sir Daniel Fortesque loses to Raiden

Mega Man X beats Isaac Clarke

Geralt beats Sir Galahad

Heihachi Mishima loses to Juan Aguacate

Delsin Rowe loses to Kat

Joel and Ellie beat Lil and Laarg

Lionel Messi beats Kobe Bryant

Traveller loses to Toro Inoue

Emmett Graves loses to Yu Narukami

Parappa the Rapper beats Death Jr.

Dante beats Sacrifice

Pupuru beats Fat Princess

Abe beats Big Daddy

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger beats Rayman

Spike beats Kutaro

Dan Hibiki loses to Johnny Cage

Zero loses to E-123 Omega

Jacket beats Carl "CJ" Johnson

Mr. Ash beats Nightmare

What were the best games of 2012?

Off the top of my head:

1\. Spec Ops: The Line

2\. Hotline Miami

3\. Need for Speed: Most Wanted

4\. Gravity Rush

5\. Driver: San Francisco

(Never played TWD)


	38. The Next Step

"Excellent!" Kutaragi clapped his hands together. Shadow had just shown him the chaos emeralds. The All-Stars had called yet another meeting after they all had returned. The victory in San Francisco, and the finding of the seventh Chaos Emerald being the main talking points. "I want to keep them safe here." Shadow explained. "Save them for when I need them the most." Some of the All-Stars were puzzled by the decision. "With such power, you could rule the mortal world!" Zeus exclaimed. "What on earth would saving them do?!" Shadow glared at his arrogant rival. "I need power to keep up that form. Usually it comes from rings, but since rings don't exist here, I figured I should look for another power source." Shadow continued. "You figured you could use some All-Star power to help you mantain your super form." Kutaragi suggested. "Well, if you have any, I guess it could work."

"Yes. I shall save some then, to give us a better chance at victory." He answered. "So what else of note happened?" He asked. The All-Stars that knew looked around awkwardly, wondering which one of them would have to break the news.

"..." Was the consensus. "A love potion, you say?" Isaac Clarke nodded. "It made her fall for him in an instant. Never seen anything like it." He repeated. "Nor have I. It appears this may be unique, so we shouldn't have to worry about it again, but this is indeed worrying." Kutaragi responded. Radec breathed a sigh of relief.

That girl had been a nightmare since day one. Whatever prophecy she believed in, she really believed it. His worst moment was when she managed to get inside the air vents and observe him in his quarters, not that he was doing anything, just that her very presense made his blood boil. She was probably just gullible. Whoever told her that 'the spirits said so' probably did so to get a kick out of it. God help that person if Radec ever found them...

"I think it's more serious than that, Radec." It was the knight of dubious courage, Sir Daniel Fortesque, who said it to him. "Don't push it, Fortesque." Radec hissed. "Maybe he's right." Radec turned to his other side, to see the elf guy. What was his name? Jak, wasn't it? "What do you mean?" Radec asked.

"Well, for a start, who knows what they could do? Maybe she'll join them in fighting us? Maybe she's off your back, but what about the rest of us? All I'm saying is, it could hurt us if we don't know."

"I know she's a handful" Sir Dan chimed in. "You say that like you're her father." Radec shot back. Fortesque ignored him. "But if that fiend Zarok is there, well then, who knows what might happen? It wouldn't be very good, I can tell you that." Radec despised the skeletal knight, but he had a point. "Fine." Radec conceded. "But where should we start looking for her? Have any ideas?" He pressed. "Well...um...I-" "Knowing how much she loves you, she'll be back soon." The orange weasel on Jak's head cut in. Radec was about to lash out at him before Jak told him to stay off. "Not a good idea Dax." He warned his friend. "Sir Dan's probably right. She'll come back eventually."

* * *

"Ugh." Calaca wasn't in a good mood.

"Calaca, you old bean, what's wrong this time?" Zarok walked into his law firm, unhit by a flying filing cabinet. "Just have a look out of the window." He sighed, head in his hands. Zarok made his way over to the window overlooking the Lake of Fire, not seeing much wrong. Some of Calaca's minions were trapped there, and aside from that, there was nothing. Then he looked up from the lake and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw a giant face staring back at him. It was Gigadis' face, carved out of rock. "I see." Zarok said, backing away from the window. "That dimwitt Gigadis had to construct that monstrosity just across from my law firm, and now every time I show up here, I can't get anything done! It feels like I'm being watched!" Zarok took another look. "I suppose so. But what can we do?"

"I can help."

The two turned to face Calypso. "How long have you been here?" Calaca asked. "Just got here." He responded. "I'll speak to him about that. As for you two, Bohan wanted to speak to you. At his castle. Currently it's being repaired, so he should be just outside." Zarok didn't trust Calypso in the slightest, ever since Columbia. "What about?" Zarok questioned. Calypso shrugged. "Didn't say. Anyway, he said it was important, and to go and see him right away." Calaca didn't waste any time. "Well, come on Zarok." Before Zarok could protest, Calaca grabbed his arm and took them both off to Bohan.

With them out of the way, Calypso took off towards Gigadis' palace. That was what the massive face was, and truth be told, it was actually unsettling to look at. But what was more unsettling was something Calypso knew Gigadis himself had discovered. He could sense it since he gave him and Calaca that assingment, and now his suspicions could be confirmed, thanks to reports from other villains. Gigadis wasn't going to be walking away from this place.

* * *

"So we're going to go for Angel City again?" Mr. Ash asked. "Not straight away. In case of another surprise attack...we need to beat them to the punch. We need something to obliterate them." Kutaragi explained. "If we can go to New Helghan, we may be able to persuade the Autarch there to give us a missile." Mr. Ash raised an eyebrow. "I thought you would be against an idea like that. Don't innocent people live there?" Kutaragi sighed. "I don't agree with the idea, no. But it must be done. If Shadow says this is the only way to get to Polygon Man, well, we have to at least give it a shot. If it pays off, it will all be for the greater good in the end. Please try to understand, all of you. I will not kill anyone who doesn't need to die. You shouldn't either. But if we do not do this, well then, many more will die, for nothing." Mr. Ash nodded in understanding. "I get it. Let's just get this overwith."

The meeting was ended, and the All-Stars returned to their own matters. Jacket finally met up with Mr. Ash again. "Hey." Mr. Ash waved. "Hey man." Jacket replied. "So, you enjoyed yourself on your little vacation?" Jacket laughed. "Yeah. It's good to let off steam every now and then. I didn't even get hit this time. What about you?"

"Well, that's a long story..."

* * *

CJ looked out of the window again. "Damn. Again with those sky walls."

"What do you mean, 'again'?" Kobe asked. "I'm saying I've seen these before. In San Andreas. Or at least what's left of it."

It was a good thing Aiden happened to be passing by. "Sky walls?" He repeated, intrigued. CJ pointed outside the window. Aiden hadn't noticed it before, but once he concentrated, he couldn't unsee it. There was a ripple in the sky. Aiden recognized it immediately. Damien was responsible.

"Yeah. I see." Aiden remembered the audio recording in his pocket. Expanding at a mile a minute. Aiden shrugged it off at first, not that he didn't see Damien as a threat, but he knew Damien was tempting him. If he went along with that, he would be killed in no time. He still wasn't going. They had far more pressing matters at hand than Damien, and if they could deal with those, every other problem would fall.

To put it simply, he wasn't going to be baited into an obvious trap.

* * *

"Really?!" Jacket couldn't believe it. Two of the five predictions his twisted mind had given him had come true. _One of the All-Stars_ _has something in his possession far more dangerous than anyone is prepared for. "Avoid it at all costs_ and _The search for the Master Emerald has uncovered something much darker. It has a lot to do with the villains."_ had proven true."So that's what he meant..." He muttered. "Him again?" Mr. Ash asked. Jacket nodded. "I can't get him out of my head." Mr. Ash sighed. "Never mind that. What happened with the hostage?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Well, a fight broke out, and I tried to break it up, and..." Mr. Ash knew the rest. He felt sorry for Jacket. He was a murderer, no doubt about it, but he didn't cheer every time he caved someone's skull in. He was his own worst enemy, and he had no idea how he was supposed to deal with it.

"...That guy, Arc, killed Stahl and left as if nothing happened. Some of the others tried to get him to rationalize his actions, but the strange thing was, he had no recollection of anything about him killing Stahl. I don't know if he was bluffing or what, but it's strange." Mr. Ash thought about it for a second. He had seen Arc once before, and even if he didn't, all the All-Stars had their names and faces posted outside the virtual arena. "Yeah. He's kind of weird. Always isolated, sometimes forgets what he's doing while he's doing it, quite strange if you ask me." Jacket had no idea who that guy was, until he killed Stahl, of course. Still, it wasn't like he gave a damn about Stahl's wellbeing, or anything like that.

* * *

Most of the others were training or letting off steam in some way. It was actually a really clever idea by Kutaragi to have practice arenas on the airship. More than one, yes. About ten, though nine of them were just small arenas with no space for spectators. The attacks used All-Star power on undefeatable training dummies that were designed like anthropomorphic cats wearing white shirts with a red exclamation mark on the front. No one had any idea why they were designed that way, but they were. Something about that design did make them oddly satisfying to beat up.

John Marston had a lot of steam to let off, continuously shooting the dummy in front of him, imagining it was Edgar Ross.

Dan Hibiki was in another room, under the tutilage of Johnny Cage. Which wasn't the best, to be fair, but it was something. "That's it, concentrate. I want you to reach a Level 3." Dan sighed. "Why?" Johnny stopped fighting for a second. "Seriously? You fought off that concrete lady like she was nothing with that power! If we have that on our side, well then, it'll be a hell of a lot easier to win this war!" Dan shook his head. "I can't. My father wouldn't approve."

Johnny was about to make a smart remark, but he bit his tongue. "Why not?" He asked. "The Satsui No Hado." Johnny was confused. Dan sounded unusually serious. "The Raging Demon. It's a lot of power, but it turns you into a ruthless killing machine." Dan explained. All of a sudden, things made sense. Why Dan was so aggressive when fighting, why he was able to fight, everything.

Most strange of all, Dan's ego had finally been shattered after being beaten to within an inch of his life twice, although no one was complaining.

But was there a possibility he could control it? It was unlikely, but not impossible. He was already on a level two, despite stubbing his toe twenty times and knocking himself out using the Otoko Michi, and was slowly reaching a level three. Johnny had KO'd him about ten times already, without really trying, but he still had to see that again.

If that power could make Dan Hibiki powerful enough to do that, it was worth all the effort.

"LEVEL THREE!"

Dan activated his level three, with the crest on the back of his gi glowing red, as he surrounded himself in a dark purple aura. Turning to Johnny, his eyes were red too. Johnny tried avoiding the attacks, but it was simply impossible. Everything from Dan was unmatchable. His intensity and aggression, his speed, his power, his skill, it was like Johnny had been teleported to an alternate universe where Dan could have been one of the best fighters of all-time easily. As the super ended, Johnny applauded.

"Seriously man. You still think this is a waste of time?" Dan shrugged. "Good. Because you're gonna be knocking out opponents in seconds once you get control of that power."

* * *

Danner decided one last try was good enough. He had one last story he could tell her, and that might change her mind. She was reading a comic by a massive tv, used for multiplayer games.

"I thought I should tell you about a kid exactly like you." Maybe it wasn't the best way to open a conversation. Ellie payed attention, but there was that level of doubt and levity that suggested he could try from now until doomsday and not get any reward for his effort. "There was a virus hidden inside him, that could be weaponized to wipe out an entire race. End wars in seconds. I was tasked with getting him to safety."

Ellie said nothing, just listening.

"I remember when I took care of the child. His name was Justus, only ten years old. Kind of like you in a way, everyone saw him as the only way to end the war. But y'know what? At the end of the day, he was still a kid. No one ever treated him that way, except for his parents. They both died, although that seems to be the case for almost everyone I meet nowadays. But even when I became a criminal later on in my career, he still trusted me more than any other person in the world."

There was silence for a few seconds before Danner spoke up again. "There's good and bad in every man. Usually, a man will show his best when things are at their worst. That's something he told me."

Ellie looked at him, confused. "What does that mean?"

"He's not a good person. Very few people are. But the fact that he chose to rescue you, instead of leaving you to die, speaks volumes about his character."

"Cut the bullshit."

"Look, kid. All I'm saying is that you can hold it against him for the rest of your life if you like. But what are you going to get out of it? Satisfaction? You don't look happy to me, kid. Give him one more chance, and I know you won't regret it."

Ellie finally stopped to think. He hit her where she needed to be hit. She wasn't happy with that. She was usually upset or angry, and being mad at Joel only made things much worse. What did she do?

Danner got up to leave. "Hey." Ellie called him before he left. He turned to face her. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for the pep talk." She said, smiling. Danner smirked. "My pleasure, kid."

"What about that kid you helped? Where is he?" Danner shrugged. "Beats me. I had to leave him, for his own good. He was actually..." His voice became distant. "Really upset. I guess I was too." He sighed and left. "I hope he's okay though."

* * *

"You don't trust him?" Calaca seemed confused. "I was left for dead by him, of course I don't trust him." Zarok repeated. "I think that though he is ultimately our ally, we must be wary." The wizard explained.

Calaca paused. Maybe he would get some favours from Calypso if he reported that to him. They were currently in Bohan's castle, just leaving after Bohan told them that he needed their help in bringing down Nariko, which neither took to be very important. "You see?" Calaca shook his head. "I don't. Calypso isn't a good man, hombre. But none of us are in that postion to call ouselves good." Zarok shook his head. "I know there's something amiss, and I'll prove it!" In the same room, the villains had all gathered together.

Sigma had finally been repaired along with Vile, and now he was ready to crush X and Zero. "I'll get them, and that useless human who did this and fry him alive!" Metal Sonic spoke up. "I think we need to wait." Sigma laughed a little. "Wait for what? For them to come to us?" Metal didn't move. "That could be the key to us winning." Sephiroth stepped in. "Not likely. We must keep them on their toes."

"How has that worked out for you?" Sephiroth didn't answer. "Exactly. We need them on our turf. That way, we'll have advantages over them that will aid us in victory." Sephiroth still wasn't convinced. "And where do you suppose we should go?" Metal hated himself for saying what he was about to say, but he knew it was their best option. "Calypso's realm. They would first have to find us there, then we could seal off their only means of escape, and outnumber them. It's our best shot."

"We're talking about Calypso here." Sephiroth reminded him. Metal nodded. "I know, but he is powerful. I'm sure he'd be able to swallow his ego for one fight." Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "You're taking a massive leap of faith with that." Metal ignored him, attempting to call Calypso. What happened was much worse than no answer. Calypso rejected the call.

"That can't be good." Metal muttered under his breath.

* * *

"Well, we're here now. Ready for some Petrusite Missiles so we can blow up every single son of a bitch we encounter." Nathan Hale stepped out of the PS Airship as it arrived outside New Helghan. "Stop." Echo stepped up. "I want to go in alone. She's my mother." Hale was going to prtoest, but Kutaragi stopped him, in one of his few moments on the deck of the airship. "I think that would be wise." Hale wanted to argue, but he knew it would be pointless.

He threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine, but just be quick." He didn't want to wait, knowing the threats the villains posed to the world. "It can't be too hard." Cloud put away the Buster Sword, kind of disappointed too. Echo's walk to New Helghan wasn't that long, but it felt like it was dragging on and on. Partially because she knew New Helghan only had one missile, and they wouldn't give it away to any old rag tag team looking for it. Walking up to the Autarch, the guards recognized her, and so didn't stop her.

"Autarch." Echo saluted and then bowed.

"What is it?" Hera Visari demanded. "I'm not in a position to be granting favours." Echo went ahead anyway. "Autarch, you don't understand, we-" "I'm afraid it is you who does not understand, Echo." The Autarch interrupted her. "War is approaching fast. We won't be looking after anyone except our own." Echo shook her head. "If you give us the Petrusite Missile, then-" "What?!" Visari was shocked. "You have the audacity to come asking for our best means of defence for your own personal use?! Get out of my sight! Don't waste my time again!" Before Echo could protest, the guards had their guns trained, and were escorting her outside.

Things were going to get ugly.

* * *

Gigadis sat in his throne, trying to gather the necessary courage to...well...I'm sure you can put the pieces together. His soon to be wife was sitting in another throne, just across from his. She wore her usual attire, but her hair was down. Gigadis insisted that she change into something more regal, and she was more than happy to oblige. Unfortunately, Gigadis couldn't control himself, and so while her hair cascaded down her shoulders, blood cascaded down from the Hell Prince's nose. This happned several days in a row. So they were taking their time, looking over the lake of fire, waiting for Gigadis to calm down. Kuu had fallen asleep after several long hours of protest against Gigadis, currently resting on Pupuru's lap. They seemed alone in that place, alongside the souls of the damned, but they didn't have a say in the matter really.

To be fair, it wasn't much of a view. Calaca's law firm selfishly obstructed the view of the barron wasteland Calypso had, with his tower sticking out like a sore thumb. Aside from one hill, and possibly the only tree in hell that wasn't a mangled soul. Gigadis knew that was how Mr. Ash and co. escaped, as Calypso explained the concept to him when they first met.

Thinking about Calypso now was enough to send chills down his spine. He knew and accepted that Calypso was extremely malevolent and untrustworthy, but that video...that was just too much. It was something everyone was concerned about, but no one thought he would actually be like that. Did they?

That was another chilling thought. What if he and Damien weren't alone in knowing about it, but they were the only ones concerned? No, that couldn't be it. Otherwise Calypso wouldn't be so cautious as to let nothing slip.

"Is everything okay?"

Gigadis snapped out of his thoughts and turned to Pupuru. "Yes, everything is ok. I was just-"

Footsteps.

"Wonder who that could be?" Gigadis asked himself, turning to the door.

Calypso appeared at the door, walking towards the thrones with his hands behind his back. Stopping before Gigaids, his arms returned to his side.

"Gigadis, I know you watched the video."

Gigadis froze. "What?" Calypso clicked his fingers. Pupuru immediately snapped out of her trance. "Wha-wait, where am I?" She looked down at the Lake of Fire and felt herself become weak. "Is this...Hell?!" Calypso walked towards her, grinning sinisterly. "Correct. Would you like to stay here?" Pupuru backed away from the Twisted Metal host, until she hit the ledge. Gigadis just stood there, with a look of horror frozen on his face. "Why didn't you follow my orders? All you had to do was get rid of the video, and no one had to get hurt. Now look where we are." He said, taunting Gigadis. "I guess I'll just have to kill Brenks myself." He chuckled. "But not before your darling queen."

"Kuuuu!" Kuu jumped into action, attempting to devour Calypso. Despite his best attempts, Calypso remained firmly in place. However, he turned to Kuu, leaving his back faced to Pupuru.

As Calypso turned back to Pupuru again, his face was assaulted by searing flames, causing him to scream out as they burnt his face and blinded him. Gigadis saw his opportunity. He needed to get both of them out of here before Calypso got them. Pupuru and Kuu, that is. As for him...

Sprouting wings and picking up Kuu, despite his protests, he called out to Pupuru. "Quickly! Grab on!" The terrified sorceress ran over to him without hesitation, grabbing onto him as Kuu finally calmed down, Gigadis felt like she might rip his skin off if she gripped any harder. Over the lake of fire, Pupuru's fear intensified. The fact alone that she trusted him enough to let him carry her was proof enough that she was completely scared out of her wits. She had her head buried in his chest, in such a way that if Gigadis wasn't on a time limit, he might have been in Heaven.

Being a demon, he was lightning quick, and before long he found the small mountain. The one with the tree nearby. "Go through that mountain!" He ordered. "Wh-What-Giagdis! Why should I trust you?!" She questioned, still shaking as he set her down on her feet. Gigadis didn't even pause, simply blurting out the first thing to pop into his head. "Because if you don't you won't live to regret it!" He pushed her forward. Looking back over her shoulder once more, she grabbed a hold of Kuu, closed her eyes and ran towards the mountain, eyes closed, not wanting to bear witness to the unspeakable horrors going on around her.

Gigadis sighed. He had just let the love of his life go, and would probably never see her again. As if on cue, Calypso showed up, surrounding himself in his own hellish flames. His face was starting to heal from the burns, but he still had some way to go.

"You'll regret that Gigadis. I'll get you, then Brenks."

"Then what? You're gonna throw us in a cell? No cell can hold me!" Calypso chuckled. "I know that. Death is the fate I have in store for you, Gigadis." Gigadis felt his stomach drop.

"Maybe you'll kill me, Calypso." He muttered, as claws shot out of his hands. "But I'm going to hold you off for as long as I can!"

 ** _Author's Note_**

So, Calypso figured out that Gigadis had seen the video, now they're locked in a fight to the death. Not much to say here. I hope to have two more action oriented chapters after the next one, which I've been saving for a while.

Also been playing LA Noire recently with a friend, and I find it hilarious how Cole Phelps will say the most asinine bullshit with 100% confidence because you told him too. Won't be including him in the All-Stars, but he will be in a future fic.

Until Next Time!


	39. Return to the Windy City

Echo was nervous heading back to the PS Airship. She didn't want for the All-Stars to have to fight against her mother. But she did anyway. "I'm sorry Maya. But there is no other alternative." Kutaragi explained. "We will have to use force to get that petrusite missile."

Echo shook her head. "No. You don't understand! That's my mother!" Kutaragi sighed. It pained him to see Echo so dismayed. "Perhaps I could help." Mr. Ash entered the room. "Kutaragi, if you will, I want my back up supply of All-Star energy." Kutaragi looked at Mr. Ash and realized his plan. "Don't you think it could be a tad excessive?" He asked. "Maybe, but you're the one talking about using force." Mr. Ash replied. "Still, it's worth a shot, right? The last thing we need is another enemy, after all. If I'm there, it might change her mind." Kutaragi couldn't argue with that sound logic, and so, Mr. Ash was given some back up All-Star Power. "You should be able to utilize this in much the same way you did with Black." Kutaragi explained. "Good luck, and try not to hurt anyone." Mr. Ash looked at himself as his body radiated a royal blue colour. "I can still destroy stuff, right? To make a point, of course." Kutaragi was hesitant. "Well...only if you absolutely must."

"Okay 'Echo', we're gonna get this missile one way or another. All I want you to do is go up to your mother every day, starting tommorow. Ask her for the missile, and if she says no, well, come and see me."

* * *

The attempts to get the petrusite missile might have been talked about more often if it was the big story of the day. But that wasn't even the major event of the day. Oh no.

CJ was shocked to find Pupuru in a fetal position with wide, tear stained eyes in his room, to say the least. She had been in her room since and hadn't spoken to anyone. Kat and Delsin understood her pain, knowing the horrors of Calypso's realm. Of course, they explained to the rest of the All-Stars the story behind the painting that CJ had taken, and so now it hung in Kutaragi's place, as the All-Stars tried to figure out what they should do with it. But Pupuru was an immediately more concerning matter. Kutaragi didn't mind though, as it was nice to see the All-Stars look after each other and show concern. It seemed like no one was getting through to her though, unless...

Jak was the one who approached Radec. "What?" The colonel demanded. "Well, we're wondering if you might be able to talk to Pupuru." Jak explained. "No." was the stern response. "Maybe some Netflix an-" Jak stopped his ottsel companion before the colonel had good reason to wear his fur as a tie. "Look, I know you're happy with her being away from you all the time, but she was with Calypso." Radec stood up. "How come you know that?" He asked. "Only name she said since she came back. She might know something helpful to us, and we figured...since...y'know..." "I know!" Radec snapped. "Will you do it?" Radec let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine. But only for the information. It had better be worth it."

Walking into her quarters, he was immediately greeted by the rabbit creature hissing at him. Radec ignored the outdated aesthetic of the place, just looking for her. She was sitting on her bed, her hair covering her eyes, but not well enough for Radec to not notice they were red or she looked absolutely petrified. Her hands were on the bed too.

"Stop." She quietly told the creature. It obliged without hesitation. "I need you to tell me everything that happened." Radec said. Maybe that wasn't the best way to open the formalities. She remained silent. "You're not going to say anything, are you?" No response. Radec sighed. He was going to have to 'open up'. Radec would have much prefered to have been physically opened up than talk about anything of his past, but it was likely the other All-Stars would sense that he wasn't trying.

"You know, when I was your age, I fought in my first battle for the Helghast." Radec began. "I wasn't prepared for the horrors of what I saw. Many people I knew were either killed or permanently injured, and I was wary of the fact that one day, that could happen to me." He paused remebering what it was like fighting the war back on Helghan.

"I couldn't so much as utter a single word about anything. Until my father came up to me, and what he said to me, I remember as clearly as if it were only yesterday. He said 'Son, you've seen what our enemy is like now. He is a ruthless and cold killer, who will go to any and all lengths to ensure our downfall. But you do not face him alone. You look around you now, and see that our unity is what will pull us through. As long as you have your allies, our enemy shall never taste victory.'"

Pupuru looked up at him. "Why-" "I'm doing this because it's for the good of everyone." Radec explained. "I need you to tell me everything you heard and saw in that place."

"I don't remember much." She began quietly. "But when I started remembering things, I saw the man named Calypso. He said a few things."

"Can you remember?" Pupuru nodded. "'Why didn't you follow my orders? All you had to do was get rid of one video, and no one had to get hurt. Now look where we are. I guess I'll just have to kill Brenks myself.'" She remembered it almost perfectly. Radec paused. That might have been all the information he needed, but it was better to leave no stone unturned. "Did you see anything?"

Her head dropped down again. "...I...I...I..." She started to cry. "It was horrible!" She wailed, jumping up and burrying her face into Radec's chest. "There were people, and they were burning, and screaming, and Calypso said he was gonna throw me in there!" She continued to sob, as Radec was trying his best not to forcefully remove her. Gentley, he grabbed her shoulders and slowly moved her head back. They stared into each other's eyes for a bried second.

"Well done."

With that, Radec left, shutting the door behind him. Jak was outside. "Good job." He gave Radec the thumbs up. "Ugh. Don't talk to me about it." Radec groaned, not wanting to go any further than that. "Just get that computer geek to find out who Brenks is." Radec shuddered. He needed to go and purge his mind.

* * *

Walking up to the parliament building, Echo was surprised to see her mot-the Autarch standing at the top of the steps. She must have been expecting someone.

"You again?" The Autarch raised an eyebrow. "I assume you're back for the missile?" Echo nodded.

A rumbling. A soft rumbling at first, which evolved into a mild one. Then a violent one. The Autarch held her nose as the disgusting contents of Helghan sewers spewed onto the streets. The filthy water covered ground fast, and plenty of rodents came up too. The rats, which were as big as cats scurried out of sunlight, but there were alligators who weren't as shy. They enjoyed their time on the street. People were horrified, and some were even sick because of the foul stench.

Echo turned to the Autarch. "A fault in our sewage systems it seems. Come back any time tomorrow and it will be cleaned up." Echo was shocked. She thought surely that would make her at least reconsider her stance.

"Nothing?" Mr. Ash raised his eyebrows. "Nothing." Echo reassured him. "Guess I'll have to try harder then." Echo didn't like the sound of that. "Please, keep it to a limit. They're still my people, and-" "It's fine. Don't worry, I promise I won't go overboard." Echo still didn't trust him, but right now, fighting wasn't a good idea. "Alright."

* * *

Aiden, Radec, T-Bone and Snake had met up to discuss what Pupuru had said.

"Alright, so what did you get for us?" Snake asked. "Two things. One about a video." Radec answered. "Elaborate." Snake asked. "Isn't that Kutaragi person supposed to be here?" He asked, looking around the room. "He had something else to do, a problem with Allstar power or something. He and the Doc are trying to fix it." T-Bone explained.

"I see. Well, the girl told me that Calypso wanted this video destroyed." Radec explained. "That's all I've got on the video." Snake mused. "Well, I guess he must have wanted it gone badly then. What else did you find out?"

"A name." Radec answered. "Who?" T-Bone asked. "Apparently, he said 'I'll just have to kill Brenks myself'." Aiden froze. "Damien Brenks." He remembered the name. How could he forget? Especially after his betrayal. In fact, as soon as Aiden said it, they all remembered it. "Isn't he the guy who had us all killed in the jungle?" Snake questioned. Aiden nodded.

"Looks like he's in danger." Radec explained. "We might not have much time left if we're considering going after him."

Snake cut in. "We need to risk it. This video might have some crucial information in it. Maybe a plan, something no one's supposed to see. It's too good an opportunity to pass up." Then it was T-Bone's turn. "As much as I'd love to go and all, we have no idea where Damien is. If we can't pinpoint his location, we're just on a wild goose chase."

That was a good point. But then Aiden remembered something else. He reached into his trench coat pocket and pulled out an audio recorder. Pressing play, he got the location. "Blume Headquarters. Chicago."

They all looked around at one another. "Well, if we're sending a team there, we've got no time to lose."

* * *

A simple car might not have been the best thing to send to Chicago, but Kutaragi insisted that it was the most secretive. He had a point there, Aiden couldn't argue. But of course, he could argue for the fact that it wouldn't work.

Aiden knew Damien's game plan very well. Damien had borrowed his idea from a digital trip.

A digital trip was kind of like a drug, minus any harmful effects. They clicked on over your ear and sent some kind of waves to your brain to simulate an enviroment based on your surroundings. The trouble was that they were highly addictive, and reports of people losing their jobs or causing accidents became commonplace. You thought Pokèmon Go was bad? This would blow your mind.

So congress unanimously passed a ban on digital trips, prompting several days of protest against the so called dictatorship, but shortly afterwards, people continued with their lives. Digital trips were then sold on the black market, but because of the level of control CTos had over most populated areas, most were too afraid to try them out of fear of what might happen to them. Aiden tried some and couldn't figure out why people used them.

But one of the digital trips was called "Alone". Of the digital trips, he actually tolerated this one, making it one of a kind. Alone saw some post apocalyptic scenario in which an AI system went rogue and set up beacons all over the city. They created dark skies, disabled electronics and cars, but worst of all, they created an enviroment for these incredibly freaky guys with cameras for heads who would disintegrate you with beams coming from their eyes. The beams had different colours to indicate different emotions.

Blue was the most common. This one was used to indicate no threat in front of the robot. It was like a search light, but it couldn't do harm.

Yellow was more dangerous. It didn't mean game over, but it did require that you run and hide as quickly as possible. It couldn't harm you, but it meant that it knew you were somewhere, and knew you were a threat.

Red was game over. These beams could eat anything and you could only run as the brutes chased you. What made it worse was the surprising co-ordination of the robots as they would chase you into places where there were more of their buddies waiting to pounce. Aiden lost many times, but his skills improved considerably. He was more skilled in stealth. He learned to be more aware of his surroundings and became less reliant on technology to get the job done.

The same strategy would have to be employed, with everything electrical being rendered useless by the electromagnetic waves emmited by the robot generators. The group of Aiden, Sly, Joel, Ellie, T-Bone and Edward listened to radio as the president gave an emergency briefing. The audio was crackling, but you could make out what was being said. "It has come to my knowledge the locations of these dark skies. I urge anyone living in a major metropolitan area to evavuate immediately. Intelligence tells me also about these electromagnetic waves. They appear to be strongest in urban areas. We cannot locate the main source, or find out who is transmitting them, but we have found the waves to be weaker in rural areas. They disable electronic devices. To further help understand these waves, we have split them into different categories.

Category 1 is the weakest known. It disables wifi and not much else.

Category 2 can intercept weak signals on telephones, televisions and radios.

Category 3 intercepts most signals, except for the strongest television and radio signals, like this one. Household appliances may not work.

Category 4 is when things get dangerous. There are abnormal and unidentified creatures which are known to patrol these areas and will kill you if provoked. While sightings have been reported in Category 1,2 and 3 areas, it is uncommon. Strong radio and television signals like this one may come through in poor quality.

Category 5 is the strongest known category. The few reports we have suggest that it is from here the creatures come from. Strong radio and television signals will come through in poor quality. Cars will no longer work. Anyone living in a Category 5 area must evacuate immediately."

More was said, but the category 5 areas were the topic on the mind of everyone in the car. Aiden looked out of the window. There was a sign welcoming them to...well, it was obscured by moss on the sign. It would be a while before they got to Chicago.

"Yo T-Bone, I think we should pull over for the night." Aiden suggested.

T-Bone looked exhausted. But he wanted to get to Chicago asap.

It would take a little longer than usual, having to avoid heavily populated areas. There was no way anyone could muster the strength to keep going for that long. But T-Bone wanted to get there, and as long as that was on his mind, he didn't care what it would take. "Hey." Aiden spoke up. "I want to get to Chicago too. But best to get there in good shape." T-Bone considered. "Alright. We'll find somewhere." They found a small abandoned town with a few houses for them to stay in. 'Welcome to' the sign read. Welcome to where? Wasn't important. "What about here?" T-Bone asked. "Yeah, this will do."

Joel went over to dust off the sign. He ripped off some of the vegetation growing on the sign.

'Welcome to Jackson County, WY'. It read. "This is where Tommy lives, isn't it?" Joel turned around. Ellie. "That's right." He confirmed. "Maybe we should pay him a visit." Joel shook his head. "Not now, kiddo. We've got a job on our hands that needs taking care of first."

Ellie then finally said something she should have said long ago. "Joel, I-I'm sorry." She began. Joel wasn't expecting that. "Sorry?"

"I...Well, I was mad at you for lying to me, and I...I wanted to keep it up for as long as I could." She chose her words carefully. "I...what I'm trying to say is, I forgive you." She said.

That was everything Joel needed. He stood there for a second, before a smile crept onto his face and he tightly hugged Ellie, nearly crushing the poor girl. "Thank you." Was the only thing he could say. Ellie would have normally said something smart at a time like this, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything right now.

Seeing Joel cry tears of joy when she said those words was proof that he really cared about her. At the end of the day, they were still a team, and Ellie wouldn't have had it any other way.

"I love you, baby girl."

"I love you too, Joel."

He put her down and looked around. "Well, I guess we better go look for a place to sleep. Back to the grindstone soon." Ellie shrugged it off. "Eh, sneaking around's no big deal to me anymore."

"Oh, so you're a master now?" Joel played along. "You bet. Maybe I'll teach you a thing or two when we get there." Joel laughed. "Alright. Let's get some sleep."

A few hours later, after a short sleep and a longish drive, they arrived at Chicago. Before a catergory 5 zone.

"Here we are." The car stopped before the barrier, everyone inside knowing that once inside, they were on their own. "Alright. You two can get out here." T-Bone instructed Joel and Ellie. The two got out of the car. "Well, wish us luck." Ellie shut the door as the car drove off. "We'll go in through the suburbs." T-Bone explained. "You three can go in as a group, and I'll wait outside."

Edward wasn't happy. "How come you get to wait outside?"

"Because, if something goes wrong, It would be kind of nice to have a way out, don't you think?" He couldn't argue with that.

The three got out of the car, staring before the barrier. "Well, you seem to know this place better than us two. Why don't you lead the way?" Sly suggested. Aiden would've shot back at his smart ass rival, but he was right. It made sense for him to lead the way. "Fine, but don't go doing anything stupid, okay?" Sly saluted. "You have my word."

As Aiden prepared to take the first step inside, he started thinking.

The objective was to get Damien himself, but did he really want that? Damien had already tried to kill him twice, and had succeeded once, so there was nothing to suggest he would be any different a third time. Was it all a lost cause? Perhaps Damien was already dead, and the video was destroyed. Maybe what Radec had said was all bullshit? Maybe there wasn't a video. Maybe this was all a trap. Had he been played? Aiden shook his head. That couldn't be true.

"Is everything okay?" Edward asked. Aiden immediately snapped out of his thoughts and returned to reality. "Yeah." He answered. "Let's go."

He hoped he wasn't too late.

* * *

Gigadis was exhausted. Even as the Hell Prince with enhanced stamina, days of fighting against Calypso were taking their toll. But he wouldn't give up. He was finished anyway, so best to go out fighting.

"I know I've done some bad things, Calypso, but what I saw you say, knowing you followed through on it?! That's too far! I won't let you win if that's what you're intentions are!"

Calypso laughed. "Oh Gigadis. Why put limits like that on your fun? You have so much power, to bring the entire world to its knees, and all you want is one girl?! I think you're the insane one!" He launched a fire charged punch for Gigadis' head, only to have the move mirrored.

Calypso pierced Gigadis' eye on the next punch. The Hell Prince howled in pain, recoiling from the attack, allowing Calypso to get more punches in.

"Consider yourself lucky, Gigadis! Brenks is going to suffer much more than you!"

Gigadis had almost forgotten about Damien. The reason why he was fighting.

He just hoped the truth would get out.

 ** _Author's Note_**

So the race against time is on now, with Gigadis barely able to keep up with Calypso, but the All-Stars being so close to Damien. Who will make it first?

Mr. Ash also has some of his power back, but is it a blessing or a curse?

I also don't write the chapters in chronological order, which is why I talk about the ancient relic that is Pokemon Go.

Until Next Time!


	40. Iron Hearts

Calypso was smart.

That was what Damien thought as he sat at his desk, looking at the many monitors. Calypso sent that recording he made off straight away, meaning Aiden could have received it at any time. Of course, Aiden would've absolutely loved the chance to get back at him, so he would go straight away.

Damien wouldn't leave the CTobots to patrol Chicago without his supervision. They probably couldn't outwit a spider with seven of its legs missing, let alone the vigilante of Chicago. So that left him to constantly keep watch for Aiden, which meant being holed up in Blume's Headquarters 24/7. It was a day like any other, though with the added pressure of Calypso on his back, nothing too unusual had happened. Then an icon flashed up on the screen.

'CTos has detected human life in Chicago. Would you like to go to security system?'

Damien smiled. "Took you long enough Aiden." He opened up the security system, giving him a look through the eyes, or camera, of the nearest CTobot to Aiden Pearce. Damien also noticed two other All-Stars on the map, away from the other three, but Damien wasn't focused on them. He found the blip that read '?=(/%%(()%/)%$$§?' Aiden's strategy of scrambling his identity worked against Chicago PD, but not on Damien, Right now, all he was staring at was a road, as the CTobot walked up and down one street.

"Alright Aiden, let's see what you're made of."

* * *

The CTobots travelled around fixed areas, but not fixed paths. Aiden hated that, as it meant they were always nearby, but he couldn't just ghost past them so easily. He made his way towards the suburbs, approaching the old house of his sister, Nicky.

Aiden remembered. That was where Damien first contacted him after they went their seperate ways, hiring someone to send prank calls to his dear sister. Damien got the desired results, but Aiden wasn't interested in teaming up. Aiden doubted Damien would ever let that go.

"Hey." Aiden snapped out of his trance and looked at his rival. "We need to move." Aiden nodded as Sly re-activated his invisibility cloak and took off across the roads, unknown to the robots. Aiden obviously couldn't do that, while Edward was jumping from rooftop to rooftop gracefully and silently, Aiden was left to slowly sneak around every CTobot in the vicinity.

At least he had his stun gun. Silent, and very effective against the bots. He carefully fired five shots, taking out enough robots so he could keep pace with the other two. One other CTobot took notice of the noise made by the footsteps, and with a yellow searchlight, made its way over to Aiden. The vigilante fired his stun gun again, disabling the robot and continuing on. "You've gotta admit it, I was close there, wasn't I?" Aiden rolled his eyes. Damien also had access to a speaker system all across Chicago. That idea too was taken from the digital trip. There, it was just a generic female computer voice telling the CTobots to hunt him down, but here, Damien was much worse. Thankfully, he didn't use it too often. Mostly because he couldn't think of many things to say, according to Aiden.

"Hey, look who it is." Sly gestured to Aiden. The hacker looked to his right and saw Joel and Ellie walking towards them. Aiden quickly gestured for them all to get inside a house so they could talk.

Once they had all regrouped, including Edward, Aiden began to explain to them what they were doing.

"Right. So I need Squirrel Boy and Ed on the edge of the tunnel, you two through the trees on top, and I'll go through it. Okay?" They all nodded, with Sly ignoring the unoriginal insult.

* * *

Damien was beginning to loathe the HQ.

It wasn't a bad place or anything like that, there was food and electricity along with everything else one might need, but staring down grey corridor after grey corridor was starting to get a bit repetitive. Something needed to happen. Wait. Why didn't he just call Gigadis? That was a good idea.

The phone was immediately answered. "Damien?!" Gigadis' voice sounded ragged and fearful. Not a good sign. "Don't tell me-" "Oh yes I have!" Calypso laughed. "How long did you think you could hide from me?!" Damien didn't answer, as panic began to build up inside him. "You'll pay for going against me, Brenks! See you in a while!"

Damien dropped the phone. That changed everything. He was exposed, and Calypso was coming for him. The very idea of what might happen to him was enough to make him shudder. On the other hand, Aiden and some other All-Stars were fast approaching him, and they wouldn't exactly be too forgiving.

But wait.

Maybe that was his only hope. Maybe there was a way out of this. Maybe, just maybe, he could deny Calypso victory. But would it work? It was at least worth a shot.

He activated the speaker system. Currently, Aiden was at the other end of the tunnel, ahead of everyone else. Thankfully for him, there were less CTobots around.

"Alright Aiden. I've made up my mind." Damien's voice boomed. "What? What the hell are you talking about?" Aiden demanded. "I'm willing to meet you halfway. I know you're after a video, yes?" Aiden would've been surprised, but he knew Damien better than that. "Damien, what's this about?!" Aiden demanded again. "Look, I've got some beef with the other villains, and they want me dead. Now, I want my own back, and I figured the best way to do that would be to bring the whole operation down on them. I'm still pissed at you for killing me and everything, but I think you could use some help." He explained, keeping his composure. "Damien, we're gonna get that anyway. Why the hell would I even consider keeping you alive?!" Aiden snarled, getting frustrated. "Because, Aiden, I can also help you get to Polygon Man. I know how."

That was enough to make Aiden pause. He remembered that Shadow said something about a code to help them reach Polygon Man. Of all the villains, Damien was the most likely to know what it was.

But did it have to be _him_?

Of all people in the universe? Not to mention how suddenly he sprung it on them. It seemed so obvious to him that Damien was planning something. But if Damien was serious about knowing the way to Polygon Man, and Aiden didn't doubt that he was, then it may have justified believing him.

All of a sudden, the sky brightened. It was still night, but the stars in the night sky were now visible. As well as that, Aiden's phone finally got its signal back, and most importantly, all the CTobots stopped dead in their tracks, lights from the cameras fading, and then all of them being beamed up, as if they were aliens being returned to their mothership.

"I'll be waiting outside the Blume HQ. Kill me if you want, but It'll be your loss." That was the last thing he said before abandoning the speaker system, taking everything he needed, and going to wait outside.

In the meantime, Edward, Sly, Joel and Ellie regrouped with Aiden, having heard everything Damien had said.

"Well, you heard what your old partner said. Who are we to refuse? We should go for him." Edward suggested. "I gotta agree." Joel concured. "We need all the help we can get." Ellie nodded. "Can't have come all this way and said we got nothing."

"Well, Vigilante? We seem to be all in agreement. Except for you. What have you got to lose?" Sly questioned. Aiden sighed. Though he didn't like to admit it, his rival was yet again right. "Fine." He reached for his phone and called T-Bone, telling him to drive to Blume HQ.

"Just keep your guns out." Aiden advised them as the group took off towards Blume HQ. It didn't take them long to arrive, and to see Damien standing at the open gates, with his hands in the air.

"Aiden. Long time no s-" "Shut the fuck up." Aiden snapped. Damien sighed and kept his lips sealed. T-Bone arrived shortly afterwards, allowing the group to finally return to the location where they were to meet the PS Airship. Needless to say, the journey back was long, quiet, and awkward.

Still, there were people who had it worse.

* * *

Calypso finally found an opening. He began slashing and slashing with his claws, drawing more and more blood as Gigadis could no longer fight back.

Calypso held his head up for the final move. "Don't worry, Gigadis, I'll make sure Brenks gets to you as soon as possible!" He laughed. Gigadis spat. "Someone...someone's gonna give you what you've got coming, Calypso...mark...my...words..." He coughed out. Calypso's expression soured. "Such senseless bile. What a poor choice for your last words." He slashed through Gigadis' neck, separating his head from his shoulders.

Gigadis was dead. Gone. Beyond ressurection. Calypso breathed a sigh of relief, taking his claw out and allowing it to turn back into a hand. He had Black get rid of the body and any blood that was there, minimizing the amount of evidence.

Now only one person remained. Calypso immediately teleported to Blume HQ, and stormed in the front entrance, making his way to the main computer.

Brenks wasn't there. There was a note in his place.

'Gone with All-Stars.'

Calypso froze. All those days of fighting. All that effort. FOR A FUCKING POST-IT?!

He lost it, going berserk, leveling Blume HQ to the ground. Once he finally calmed down, he decided to call Brenks and warn him of what was to come. But upon looking at his phone, he noticed that he had an incoming call. From Sigma, of all people. Better deal with that first.

"Hello?" He answered the call. "Hey, were have you been? No one's seen you for three days." Calypso waved it away. "I had work to do. Now, what do you want?" He demanded, still furious that Brenks had gotten away. "Polygon Man wants you to go to New Helghan and get their missile." Calypso was tempted to scream down the phone that he wasn't some errand boy, but he restrained himself. "No one else can do this?" He asked. "Boss' orders. Not mine." He hung up. Calypso grumbled, but he supposed he wasn't in a position to turn down the job, with him being missing for days and everything.

But why did they need him? How bad could things have been in New Helghan to need him?

* * *

Day 2

It was horrible. No sewage was to be seen, and all the alligators were killed, but it seemed as if someone had forgotten all about the rats. Even then, there were more than she had seen yesterday. Echo wasn't a girly girl, but seeing all those rats would have been enough to make anyone scream and run for safety. It made her skin crawl to see some streets caked in hordes of vicious creatures. Some people weren't so lucky.

There were more than a few people who did not have anything on their feet, except for teethmarks from the rats, that was. People fortunate enough to have their own homes were hiding behind locked doors and looking out of the window in terror. Echo had military grade combat boots on, so those rats had no chance of biting her toes off, but she still found herself watching her step so she didn't stand on any.

The parliament gates were manned by guards holding flamethrowers incinerating the rodents. Echo ran past, where there were no rats to speak of. She found her way back to the Autarch again. "Autarch." She knelt down. "Well? What is it this time?"

"Autarch, the streets-" "Yes, if not for those sewers yesterday, we wouldn't be having the rodent problem we're having now." Echo was on the verge of being angry, but she knew better. "Autarch, I implore you! You must give up your missile, or things will only get worse! Each day will be worse than the last! You must realize these aren't natural disasters."

"Enough of this farce!" The Autarch pounded her fist against the arm rest of her throne. She wasn't listening. Echo began to wonder, and worry, if she ever would.

"My God, she's a tough nut to crack." Mr. Ash muttered to himself. "Any ideas?" Echo shook her head. "I'm sorry, I couldn't possibly do that." Mr. Ash thought for a moment. "How about a plague?" He asked. "What?!" Echo looked at him as if he had three heads. "Relax, relax. It'll only make them ill. I won't kill any of them, but your mom doesn't know that. So if she really is compassionate for her people, well then, she should give us the missile with no trouble!" Echo didn't appreciate the enthusiasm. "Fine, but tone down the enthusiasm."

Eventually, the rodents were gone, but that didn't mean things would get better. Day 3 was here. A great plague had swept across the city overnight seemingly, as nearly every Helghan living there was ill. No doctor could figure out what illness it was, or how to combat it. It was suspected that the rats had brought it with them, as that was the only rational explanation people could come up with. Echo winced as she walked through the streets on her daily trip to the parliment building. The coughing and wheezing was bad enough, without the sounds, and sights of vomiting, disgusting boils and irritable bowels.

"Autarch." Echo knelt down. "Now do you see that this is no coincidence?" The Autarch said nothing. "I'm getting tired of this little charade. Once again, claiming responsibility for these plagues won't help you!" The whole room was silent. Echo got up to leave. She saw Akro as she made her way out. "Hi Akro." Echo said. "Good morning Echo." He said back. "I must say, you've brought quite the amount of chaos to this city." Echo scoffed. "Yeah, try telling that to the Autarch. She won't listen to me. She's convicned that she'll overcome it and that this will all be forgotten." Akro sighed. "I know. She's like that. I just hope you get it done soon, I'm not sure how much more these people can take." With that, he was off. Echo looked back over her shoulder. They were already well past their limit, but the Autarch was far from finished.

Day 4 was the most devastating yet. A hurricane steamrolled through New Helghan. Echo was advised not to bring her hood, and wear industrial strength goggles. Even then, the wind always felt like it was going to tear her hair off her head. She new that most of the poor slums of New Helghan would have been blown away completely. The more developed areas would survive though. As if to prove her point, an old tv flew by her head, narrowly missing her. But she wasn't so hopeful about her mother. Mr. Ash needed something better than this, surely.

She was right. Her mother didn't even consider giving her the missile.

New Helghan was much worse though. The winds threatened to take the buildings away with them and people could barely see. Some were hit by flying debris. But other than that, it was way too much effort to stand out in blistering winds which were beginning to hurt. She hurried back to the ship. But she wasn't done yet. Mr. Ash finished whipping up winds after about an hour, which was when Echo dcided to speak with him.

"This doesn't seem to be working." She said. Mr. Ash seemed confused. "And why not?" He asked. "Well, the Autarch thinks these are just natural disasters. I think we need something unnatural." Echo explained. Mr. Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I could do that, but, your beloved home would be completely destroyed, and if she had nothing left to lose, I doubt that bitch would give you the rubble of her throne." Mr. Ash pointed out. Echo sighed. "You're right. She'd probably have me killed too."

"She'll probably break before long." Mr. Ash assured her. "Just give it time." He walked off to chalk up some plans for the next day. Echo tried to get it off her mind. She hated doing this, if she was honest. Regardless of their stance against each other, Echo new it was her mother and the Helghast race who she stood against. It made her feel terrible, although, she felt hopeful Mr. Ash would come up with something.

Day 5

Many of Echo's veins, arteries, and some organs were replaced by electrical wiring. It was a good thing it was waterproof, otherwise, she'd be dead. Whatever problems New Helghan had with its dirty sewage water a few days ago now paled by comparison to the problem with clean water, more specifically, rain, pouring down. It was like a monsoon, but way more powerful. The rain didn't damage anyone, but those goggles came in handy. It was like being underwater, and she was even having trouble breathing.

There were pieces of houses that were floating on the water, and for the first time, the upper class was affected. The downpour was so heavy that it managed to seep through many rooves. Rising sea levels would obviously be blamed for this, except for one thing. The water and rain perfectly stopped at the wall, with the risen sea levels towering over Vektan waters. Making it to the parliament building was almost impossible, but she managed it, feeling sorry for the soldiers unfortunate enough to have to stand outside. "This is the pinnacle of your threat? Pathetic. Get out of my sight, you loathsome traitor. How dare you mock the Helghast!"

"Autarch, I-" Echo was forcefully evicted from the building, just as the rain stopped.

Mr. Ash watched as Echo came back. She seemed a little more emotional today. Maybe angry or upset, but definetely more emotional. He looked at her as she walked past him. Mr. Ash usually holed up in an abandoned part of town, where his only company was the animals. Occasionally someone would come by and notice him, then walk away in the other direction. Echo approached the wall of a run down deli and started punching. It wasn't controlled punches or anything, just a flurry of fists flying at the wall until it broke.

"Nothing?" Echo remained silent. "I might have to-" "No." Echo interrupted him. "No one dies." Mr. Ash sighed. "Fine, I'll think of something." Echo walked off, looking for a place to sleep, as Mr. Ash wandered the streets. People somehow continued life as normal, as the streets were bustling with activity. What could he do?

The next morning came, with Ash not having any sleep. He needed it, but he was still thinking of ways in which he could convince the Autarch to give a missile to them without killing anyone. If it wasn't for that one restriction, he would have already used it by now. But oh, such were the arbitrary rules, and so he had to think. Unfortunately for him, he was so wrapped up in his own thoughts he forgot to look where he was going. He bumped into a man, knocking him into a puddle. "Oh shoot, sorry about that." Mr. Ash apoloized as the man picked himself up, briefly glancing at Mr. Ash before hurriedly walking away. That was enough for Mr. Ash to follow the man, who took notice. He looked over his shoulder again, and that was when Mr. Ash recognized the face.

Calypso.

Mr. Ash clenched his fists, feeling rage boil up inside him, remembering everything Calypso had done.

Everything. Those two. How he tried to break them. How he used his own allies as bait. His unrelenting thirst for power and vengeance. He fucking detested that sack of shit.

And Mr. Ash was not one to keep his anger bottled up. He turned to Echo and simply said. "I suggest that you take cover." He said, cracking his knuckles. "Oh God. What are you doing?" She asked, getting increasingly nervous. "I said, take cover. I've got a score to settle!"

Calypso was prepared to try and bargain for the Helghan petrusite missile. It was a bizzare tactic, but Calypso had his reasons. He came alone, but he didn't really need backup that much. He saw a man who looked strangely like James Ash, but he couldn't possibly be here. Then the sky changed. They weren't clouds, but something was covering the sky, making it pitch dark below. "That's strange." Calypso remarked, and moved on. Then there was thunder. Followed by lightning. One of the bolts barely missed him. "What the-" He was cut off by another near miss, this time an flaming asteroid came down, and destroyed a nearby house. The debris went flying, with some of it landing by Calypso. "Who's doing this?!" Calypso demanded to no one in particular. No one answered. They were all screaming and running for their lives as more lightning and flaming asteroids came down. Then Calypso felt the ground shaking beneath his feet as a sewage pipe burst. Calypso was caught in the blast and launched into the air. So it was Ash!

"CALYPSO! I'LL BREAK YOU LIKE A RAG DOLL!" Ash boomed. Calypso called on Black. "Get us out of here!"

Black hurriedly tried to, but with no luck. "Why aren't you helping?!" Calypso demanded, avoiding another meteor. "Master. Mr. Ash has regained his power. If you wish to escape, it cannot be done through teleportation." Calypso swore under his breath as he sprouted wings and tried to fly away. Looking down at all the chaos, Calypso knew then how much Ash wanted him dead. He didn't care that much, aside from the fact that he was in grave danger at the moment, but it was nice for Ash to know how it felt to have someone ruthlessly abuse you.

His thoughts were cut off by a bolt of lightning which fried him, sending him crashing to the ground, right into a volcanic eruption. Ash really was pulling out all the stops.

Calypso continued to run on foot, avoiding everything he could, occasionally being hit, but still running. Before long he was on the outskirts of town, ready to sprout his wings again, leaving New Helghan behind in a state of ruin.

He then received a call. Sigma. "That you who did all that?" He asked. "All what?" Calypso quizzed. "You know! New Helghan!" Calypso looked back over his shoulder. "Oh, that. No, it was one of the All-Stars." Sigma couldn't believe his ears. "What?! Not possible!" Calypso rolled his eyes. "I couldn't either. But you know what's going on onboard he PS Airship. It won't last for much longer." Calypso reassured him. "Guess you're right. Get back here as soon as you can." With that, he was gone.

Mr. Ash stormed back to the PS Airship, looking to get Echo. She was up at the crack of dawn and ready to go. She noticed how furious he looked, as if he had killed someone. It worried her greatly, especially seeing how furious he was. She didn't bother asking, simply opting to go along with him to New Helghan. As Mr. Ash went off his own way, Echo approached her usual entrance, fearing the worst.

What she saw was even worse.

New Helghan was devastated. The damage done was catyclasmic. Many people were dead or dying, and even those healthy were now homeless. Their homes were destroyed by the burning hail, the hurricanes, the monsoon, the blizzard, and above all, in a cruel sense of irony, the Autarch paid the price for not bringing down the wall. The rubble covered the city, completely levelling it.

For Echo to walk through it all was tougher than any military mission she had ever been through. Some people looked up at her as if they knew she was responsible. She was unscathed, after all.

No. That wasn't true. Physically, she was fine, but emotionally, she was a wreck. She just hoped this would be the end. It had to be.

She saw the Helghan parliament building, with one soldier stationed there. But it wasn't any soldier. It was Akro Kratek. He said nothing and simply stood out of her way when she made her way up the steps. The path to the Autarch's throne seemed much longer than usual. The halls had remained unharmed, but today, no guards were stationed in the entire building. She eventually reached the throne room, only to find the Autarch standing by a window looking onto New Helghan, or what was left of it.

"So you're back." The Autarch didn't turn. She sounded much quieter than usual. Even upset. "I...I...Mother, please-" Echo had no idea what to say. "It's alright Maya. I concede. Take that missile. There are no guards around it. Just please end this nightmare, I don't want anymore pain and suffering for my people." Echo was stunned. Her mother was still very quiet. "I wish you the best of luck in your mission." Echo left without another word. Her mother didn't stop her either. No guards came from out of the shadows, no explosions of gunfire could be heard. Something much worse was eating her. The guilt she felt was unbearable. Mr. Ash had inflicted the damage, but she wasn't innocent. She should have stopped the suffering of the Helghast, and now, it was too late.

She went back outside to Akro. He stood there and saluted her. "I'll get the missile with my men. We'll load it onto your ship." With that, they were gone. Echo walked down the steps slowly, being careful not to trip. The guilt was unbearable. This was her homeland. The place she was sworn to protect, and now, she had completely destroyed it. The Helghast had been reduced to their weakest ever position, and it was all her fault. One-hundred percent her fault. She couldn't take it anymore.

She felt her knees become weak and dropped to the ground, as she waited for the ground to swallow her. She sobbed uncontrollably. She always had to be so tough in the military, and it really preapred her for anything. Losing her arm, getting shot and stabbed, being exposed to various lethal chemicals and even torture. But nothing could prepare her for that level of shame and depression. It hadn't been easy, being a bastard child and all, and now she had ruined the one person who had given her a chance at life. Even Akro, though he wouldn't admit it, was devastated by the fall of Helghan, and had it been anybody else who had done this, he would have had them flogged.

She slowly picked herself up, still crying and ran. She ran and ran with every single emotion going through her head all at once. It was still early morning on the airship, so the All-Stars weren't even up. She ran to her quarters, gathered up a few things, and headed down to the Y deck.

Mr. Ash looked around. No one knew who he was there, or that he had just dragged them through the mud. But they knew they had been dragged through the mud alright. The people were mostly asleep or dead, it was difficult to tell. And those who were awake solemnly tried to gather what little they could from what remained of their homes. His moral compass obviously didn't see much wrong with this, but there was something not right. He certainly didn't feel guilty, in fact, it cheered him up to know that they had a much better chance at getting the master emerald now.

After a while, he walked back to the PS Airship, only to find the All-Stars waiting for him when he got back. "Hey guys." He waved. Kellan was first to greet him, by hitting him over the head with his rifle. "What the hell man?" Mr. Ash got up, holding his head. "I should say the same thing to you, you little shit!" He hit him over the head again. "What the fuck were you thinking?!" Radec stepped forward. "People have died because you were so fucking trigger happy!" He yelled. "So what?!" Mr. Ash protested. "We needed that missile and they weren't cooperating, so I did the only thing I could!" Kellan hit him in the head with a small pistol. "I found her on Z Deck with this in her mouth. Mind telling her that you did what you could?!" Mr. Ash punched back, sending Kellan flying. "So what?! I'm sorry some people died, but we needed that fucking missile, that was the important thing!"

He looked around at the other All-Stars. Some were glaring at him. Some of them wouldn't make eye contact, and some just trembled in fear that he would do something to them. "Well?! You guys seriously thought that just because she was a stuck up bitch we should've just let Calypso-" "Calypso. Calypso this, Calypso that, do you ever get tired of pursuing that one fucking man?!" Mr. Ash turned to the voice. His rival. Nightmare. "Oh, that's really rich, coming from you, with your hard-on for a fucking sword!" He shot back. "This is bigger than SoulCalibur, and it is most certainly bigger than you and Calypso."

"The reports from Vektan intelligence are in." Danner informed him, cold as ice. BlackJack took over. "The bizzare phenomenon which swept through New Helghan killed 93% of the population, severely injured 4% and displaced another 2%." BlackJack relayed. "That was despicable." The mercenary turned and left. One by one they all left, with some of them throwing insults his way. Mr. Ash stood there, speechless. With only the knowledge that everything that had happened was his doing.

It was All. His. Fault.

 ** _Author's Note_**

Yeah, so Mr. Ash has kind of fucked up now. It's gonna be tough for him to get away from that, I tell you what.

But while that's certainly a dark cloud hanging over the All-Stars, at least they've got the video, and one of the pieces to the key to Polygon Man. But is he here to help? Or only to service his own agenda? What's on the video? Find out next time!

Thanks for reading, and Until Next Time!


	41. Knockback

Anti-Christ.

He hated that name. By definition, the Anti-Christ was someone who was supposed to plunge the world into darkness and chaos. The embodiment of evil. He wasn't like that, was he? No. He wasn't. But try convincing anyone on board the PS Airship of that. They all were convinced he was worthy of being the devil. Even his demonic rival, Nightmare, was elevated above him. He was someone who had actively tried to destroy the world, why wasn't he labelled like that? It wasn't fair.

Most of the younger All-Stars were terrified of him. Parappa, Spike, Pupuru, Little Sister, they all avoided him like he was on a killing streak and he had them lined up as his next victims.

The more timid All-Stars avoided him when they could too. Sir Daniel, Abe, Toro, The Traveller, Laarg, and others were intimidated by his very presense.

Then there were the more aggressive All-Stars, like Radec, Kellan, Zero, Big Daddy, Kratos. They made sure he never forgot that he was responsible for genocide.

Mr. Ash had begun to hate himself too. It _was_ his fault. No one pressured him to that decision. Even his corrupt rival could recognize that fact.

He was sitting on the couch in his quarters as he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

He wanted to make it up to them, he really did. But how? How the hell do you make up for something like that?

He heard Kellan had proposed to Echo, something that was relatively under the radar likely because of him. Maybe he could do something there? Nah. Maybe not, Kellan would still try to hit him.

But he wasn't going to simply stand down and do nothing, even though it was tough to think of anything else to do right now.

Mr. Ash would find a way. Even if it killed him.

* * *

"Here." Omega pointed to Silent Hill. "This is where we must part ways." He said, turning to Pyramid Head. Pyramid Head grunted. That's all he ever did, come to think of it, but watching him now, Nariko knew there was more to him than grunting and amputating limbs from people who weren't always enthusiastic about it. But now was not the time to voice those concerns.

"Alright, we should have everyone here." X looked down at his list.

Mega Man X

E-123 Omega

Shadow the Hedgehog

Kratos

Nariko

Cole MacGrath

Delsin Rowe

Kat

Dante Sparda

Deadpool

Cloud Strife

Dart Feld

Kat and Delsin remembered the last time they were here. But today, things were different. Instead of some rackety old boat, there was a a small cargo plane waiting for them.

On board, there was a small crew of about four or five soldiers, all taking extreme caution with the petrusite missile that was going to obliterate Angel City, or so they hoped. It was cramped, to say the least, inside the plane, due to the missile taking up so much space.

The journey was much quicker than last time, as the plane arrived at its destination, flying over the city.

The All-Stars pitched in to shove the missile off the plane, not having time to watch as there was a loud explosion below them as the plane accelerated away from the city. Miraculously, no one fell out the door while it was open.

"Well, here we are again." Delsin muttered as they landed in the newly ruined Angel City. The petrusite missile had been effective, with many dead DUP soldiers being scattered around the city, as a sign they were indeed expecting the All-Stars to return. Obviously without the petrusite.

Shadow could sense it. Above the clouds, there lay the Master Emerald. That was the number one priority, as far as he was concerned. He knew what would happen if they took the emerald, but that wasn't important either. He would think of something in the meantime.

The petrusite itself had some pretty interesting effects on Angel City. Everything was surrounded by a light blue mist, kind of like All-Star power. It made some parts of the buildings suspend themselves in mid-air, like time had frozen as they were falling. It made no sense to any of them, as they could clearly hear other buildings collapsing in the near distance.

"Where to next?" X asked. "There's a jungle or something at the other end of the city, isn't there?" Delsin asked, turning to Shadow. Shadow nodded. "Once we get there, we should be able to find the Master Emerald. Shouldn't take too long." With that, the group made their way to the jungle, arriving, only to find that the jungle had been damaged too.

It was still mostly green, but trees had fallen over, some hills had been damaged, causing debris to pile up, and of course, the floating rock syndrome petrusite inexplicably gave inanimate objects was here too. "Well. Hope you guys can double jump." X said as he walked off ahead of the group. "What did he-" "Never mind what he meant by that, let's just go."

Oddly enough, they encountered an Egg Robo by itself, doing nothing but twirling an axe. It didn't harm them, so they didn't harm it. Until Omega blew it to pieces. Then he was dealt great harm. But overall, through zones which mostly consisted of Angel Island's natural vegetation, and then one where most things were mushrooms, including elevators and springs, their journey had been fairly uneventful, aside from all the random things Deadpool had to say.

"Bah!" Kratos spat. "This is no challenge at all. How do you keep yourself occupied if this is all you do, hedgehog?" "hmph!" Shadow grunted. "Just be thankful getting to the Master Emerald is this easy. We could have had a lot more trouble come our way."

They all had their different ways of getting around, with Kratos and Nariko using their swords as climbing hooks, Cole and Delsin using their conduit powers, Kat using her gravity powers, Deadpool had a teleportation belt he could use to travel short distances, X had double jumps, while Shadow and Omega both had their platforming skills to help them out. Next they passed through a zone which seemed to be the underground of the whole island. Filled with lava, of course. Nothing to any of them, still they moved on. It didn't take them much longer after that. Shortly, they arrived at their destination.

"Master Emerald sighted." Omega confirmed as the group arrived at the sanctuary in the sky. There it was. Once they reached it, all that was left was to take it. "Well, that was easy." Dante shrugged, obviously expecting a bigger challenge.

"Yeah." X agreed. "Can't believe they didn't have a back-up plan." The group moved on towards the emerald. The whole sanctuary felt like a piece of ancient Greek architecture, with columns and pillars being randomly strewn about, connected by marble stairways. But there was a sense of security. None of them felt like the place would come crashing down to earth, even if a bomb came down and obliterated any trace of it from the earth.

"This place…." Nariko was the first to comment. "….such grace and beauty. It should be fragile." She slammed the Heavenly Sword into the ground, with no effect. The marble wasn't so much as scratched. "But it remains incredibly sturdy. Why?" She questioned. "That is accomplished through the Master Emerald." Omega explained. "The Master Emerald is also the item responsible for keeping the island afloat in the air." "But then, if that is the case, if we remove the Master Emerald…." Kat put two and two together.

"Affirmative." Omega confirmed. "If we remove the Master Emerald from its resting place, then Angel Island will plummet into the ocean below. Calculated damage to nearby coastal settlements would be catastrophic."

"Then maybe we should send someone to warn those people." Kat suggested. "I can use the Master Emerald. I'll use Chaos Control to place it in the water." Shadow explained. "Now come on. Let's get the emerald."

"I wouldn't dream of making it so easy for you."

There was a hedgehog, standing with folded arms on top of the Master Emerald.

Shadow? No, it looked like Shadow, but it wasn't. Someone else. Shadow and Omega recognized him immediately. "I thought you were going to let me reach full power before fighting me." Shadow snarled. "I assumed that would be a one on one fight." The imposter retorted. "Besides, you're on a very fine time limit." He added. "I'd hardly call one year a fine time limit." Delsin interjected.

Metal went quiet for a second. "I take it you haven't heard the news." They all stopped. "What news?" X quizzed. "You've been dealt a hefty blow by Polygon Man's spy. You'll barely last a week with all the power you have now." You could have heard a pin drop. Even Deadpool was silent. "Well, shit. I hope you'll understand now why we need that emerald, so if I can just take-" "You won't be walking away from here!" Metal snapped.

"Tch!" Cloud scoffed. "Taking us all on at once, I can see myself picking wires off my sword already." Dante and Dart backed him up. "Fly away, tin man. We can always get you later." Dante got out Ebony and Ivory.

"If Shadow still fancies his chances after this encounter, I'll gladly let him be destroyed by his own ego. But as for you all….." He started to draw energy from the Master Emerald. His eyes turned red.

 ** _"I'll Crush You!"_**

Deadpool was the first into action, firing his pistols as Metal, still disguised as Shadow, flew above the All-Stars, firing blasts of energy at them from his chest laser. The bullets harmlessly ricocheted off him, as Metal swooped down, trying to pick up the merc with a mouth. "Ha ha! I've come across a guy like you before, I know what you're doing!" He taunted.

Metal turned around and attacked again. Cole started to fire electricity at Metal who barely had time to get the Black Shield up before being hit. Once the attacks let up, he charged for Deadpool, this time being successful in picking him up and lifting him into the air. "Aw shit!" Deadpool looked down. "Are we gonna go flying? Just so you know, I get sick pretty easily." Metal ignored him. "You may know what to expect, but can you stop me?" He flew forward to avoid another shot from Cole.

Metal then flung Deadpool down, quickly having him reach terminal velocity as he fell out of the Sky Sanctuary. "I think-Gah!" He was hit by a missile. "I've got him!" X cheered. Metal looked around for the All-Stars. They had all dispersed, attempting to get him to divide his attention and become vulnerable. What a pathetic tactic. He had already seen it all before…..except the gravity shifter. She was currently flying towards him with a powerful kick. Metal just stood there, knowing that he would have the full counter in a few seconds. Kat finally hit him with her kick. Or so she thought.

Metal had pulled up the Black Shield again, blocking the attack. "Looks like we're going to have to try harder, Dusty." Kat muttered as she activated her powers. A storm of stalactites, similar to spears with their design. Metal stared at the storm, knowing he couldn't avoid this as easily. X had already fired more missiles at him, which he could easily avoid, but these rocks were a different story. As all of them charged for him, Metal decided to demonstrate his own abilities.

He charged forward with the Maximum Overdrive, completely obliterating all of the rocks, and still charging, smashed into a wide eyed Kat, knocking her out of the air.

As Kat fell back down to the sanctuary, she noticed how cold….and metallic the imposter was. Even Shadow had actual fur despite not being organic. What did that tell her? Had she encountered someone like that before?

No idea, and no time to think, as the Shadow imposter fired a blast at Kat, only to have it stopped by Cole who managed to get a shield up just in time. X fired his aiming laser at Metal, missing narrowly, but setting up Kratos to perfectly strike him with the Bow of Apollo. But that didn't stop Metal. It annoyed him alright though.

Metal quickly found a place to land before changing to a different form, allowing the arrow to fall out of him in his liquid state. He changed to Nariko, with the Heavenly Sword and everything.

Well, it was an imperfect copy, but it would do. Speak of the devil, Nariko came flying in, allowing Metal just enough time to turn around and parry the attack. "I'm impressed." Metal taunted. "You'll have all the time in the world to be impressed in hell!" Nariko shot back, leaping in having the Heavenly Sword split into two smaller swords.

Nariko slashed fiercely at the clone, being matched blow for blow, slash for slash. "This is impressive!" The clone laughed. "If not for my enhancements, I don't think I would be able to keep up." Nariko ignored him, knowing help was on the way. Kratos showed up again, this time to shoot the Blades of Chaos at Metal which he could not avoid.

The blades slammed into him as he was slammed back, barely having time to avoid the next Heavenly Sword slash from Nariko. "Hm! Seems I'll have to try harder." Metal quickly shot off like a bullet, with Kratos barely having time to look around before he was assaulted by a barrage of spinning blue metal objects, attacking him from every angle.

Of course, he couldn't see that, being pummelled much faster than he could keep up with, but Nariko was able to catch a glimpse of the blue, making her immediately flash back to when she first met Kratos. There was a blue hedgehog, who could move so fast he was nothing more than a blur. That had to be him! But who was he?

Kutaragi didn't mention his name, which would have been really important right about now. How capable was he? Nariko could only guess. Dante stepped in, activating his Devil Trigger to slow time down. "Alright, you son of a bitch, I'm gonna-" There was the sound of feet hitting the ground.

Dante looked up to see a white haired man wearing a red overcoat with no shirt, sporting his own Rebellion, and Ebony and Ivory. "Do what?" Metal pressed. Dante slashed at Metal, only to have Rebellion countered, and then be struck from behind with a blow from his own weapon.

Dante immediately picked it out and swung at Metal, as Devil Trigger's effects began to fade away. Dart and Cloud were waiting to surprise Metal from behind, only to have Metal anticipate both attacks, jumping out of the way of both.

He turned and activated the Black Shield again as Cloud lunged in.

"Omnislash!"

Cloud yelled, slashing furiously at the shield. Cloud knocked it back a good distance alright, but the shield held firm. Dart lunged in after, becoming a Red Eyed Dragoon and charging after Metal, only to be met head on by him, with their power cancelling each other out. "Bah! I have no time for this!" Metal grunted in annoyance before Dart exhausted himself, leaving him open for a kick to the chest, launching him into the air.

Dante fired again at Metal, who wheeled around, catching the bullets out of thin air and throwing them back at Dante. Ignoring the pain, Dante swung at him with Rebellion, only countered by the clone's own Rebellion. But then Dante finally got a break, and a literal one at that, as the fake Rebellion snapped in half, allowing Dante to get in an easy slash.

The fake Dante was reeling, and stumbled right into the path of Nariko, ready to strike with the Heavenly Sword.

As she lunged for him, she had the Heavenly Sword held high above her head, she swung down, only to hit the marble again.

"What?!" Nariko demanded, searching around for her target, only for a blue ball of metal to slam into her back. Nariko cried out as she fell to the ground with a satisfying 'crack', leaving the Heavenly Sword several feet away. Cloud immediately ran over to kick it over, but Metal shot him before he got the chance.

"Don't try and be a hero, or you'll end up worse than her!" Metal spat. He then charged for Cloud, ready to kill.

Metal was thrown off by a blast of concrete striking him head on. It didn't hurt him, but it was enough to slow him down. The three super powered All-Stars stood before him, with Delsin having fired the concrete. Metal prepared himself for a barrage of attacks, but they never came.

Letting down the Black Shield, he quickly dashed through them, only to run straight into a trap set by Cole MacGrath, who managed to shock Metal. His circuits could take much more punishment, but it still hurt.

"You!" He growled, turning to Cole. "I'll crush you!" Cole felt a strange sense of Déjà vu, like he had fought this person before now. When was it? No time to think, as Metal yet again propelled himself forward, avoiding Cole's wild amp swings. Delsin could only fire more concrete, as he had no other powers to switch to, and even then, his concrete would run out sooner or later. X showed up and tried using the Tri Thunder to attack, knowing that Metal could be most easily harmed by electricity.

To X, those speeds were fast, but nothing he couldn't compete with. He was designed to track mavericks travelling faster than lightning, and though this guy was ridiculously fast, X could at least try and attack. "Hey, Kat!" Delsin called out. "Keep an eye out up there, he's gonna be coming-" Delsin didn't have time to finish the sentence as he was rammed by Metal, then again and again and again, with no one stopping him.

He was still standing by the time it was over, but the sound of crunching bones after every impact was enough to tell the All-Stars he wouldn't be standing for much longer.

"Delsin!" Kat cried out, launching a Gravity Kick at the attacker. She connected for the first kick, but that might have been a mistake, as Metal, quickly slammed her onto the ground and dashed off before he could be seen. X had switched to the X Buster, running out of ammunition for the Tri Thunder. Cole had taken the last of Tri Thunder for fuelling his attacks, but they couldn't stop Metal from getting to Kat next.

She performed an overhead kick, hoping to hit him, only to miss by a wide margin as Metal slammed into her back with unbelieveable force. Kat felt that alright, much more powerful than the last one.

So powerful she could feel her bones shattering on impact, but she didn't have any time to think of that as Metal followed up again and again and again, each blow more deadly than the last.

Dusty was fine though, but that was the only reason she could stay airborne. "You have the power to win." Metal mused from behing her, before landing an overhead kick to her skull. "But not the skill."

Kratos was hit by the chest laser, sending him down again as he tried to get up.

The All-Stars were in trouble, but Metal didn't care.

All he wanted to know was where the hell Shadow was.

But unknown to them, there were problems on board the PS Airship as well...

* * *

"ATTENTION! THERE HAS BEEN A MAJOR LEAK OF ALL-STAR POWER ON BOARD. REQUESTING IMMEDIATE MAINTENANCE."

There were warning sirens going off as the soldiers made their way down to where the All-Star Power was stored.

Jacket, Ratchet, Clank and Sora made their way down too, finding the room where it was contained. The door was busted open, and everyone could hear the All-Star power leaking out.

All of them ran in, looking around, with the soldiers rushing to fix the leak.

All of a sudden, Arc appeared in front of the group, not that he wasn't there before, they just didn't notice him. "What happened?" He asked.

"Didn't you hear?" Ratchet gave him a worried look. "All our All-Star power is leaking out!"

"Did you see anyone suspicious come in?" Sora asked. Arc shook his head. I saw nothing, I just heard the sound of the door being busted open, and I came down here as soon as I could.

Jacket stared. Something inside him was twitching, making him reach for a nearby lead pipe. He didn't know why, but he was getting familiar urges right now to kill someone, anyone. No. Someone. Someone in particular. Who?

Whispers grew stronger in his ear. Becoming just words at a regular volume. All of a sudden he knew who he wanted to kill. The words that formed in his mind were clear.

"HE IS NOT WHO YOU THINK HE IS."

Jacket screamed and swung the lead pipe into Arc's face before anyone could stop him.

There was a satisying 'crack!' sound as the pipe connected with Arc's face. But instead of Arc being knocked back, bruised, or even bleeding, there was the sound of shattered crystals hitting the ground.

Arc's face had a gaping hole in it, revealing a purple crystal interior. "What?" Sora couldn't believe it. His rival was a crystal monster?

Arc's face quickly recovered, though his demeanour was much different. His expression never changed as he sliced at Jacket with his sword, earning AP for himself. Jacket knew where he had to go, straight over to the AP storage. Before Arc could react, Jacket was on a Level 3.

Jacket put on the Russell mask and furiously roared like a bull, punching the air a few times. Jacket charged forward and fired his nail gun, ending the Arc clone.

He didn't respawn. The soldiers had patched up the leak by now, leaving them with some All-Star power. But it was barely a percentage of what they had before the leak.

"How did you...?" Ratchet was incredibly confused. First off, Arc was actually made of crystals, secondly, he was against them, thirdly, Jacket knew all of that? How?

Jacket was about to explain, but the familiar voice interrupted him again.

"Yes, Jacket. Why don't you tell them about how I figured it out?" The man in the chicken mask taunted. "Fuck you." Jacket spat. The masked man ignored him. "and to think you want to be rid of me." He laughed. "Where would you be without me? Probably six feet under."

The others simply stared at Jacket, creeped out by him talking to nothing.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sora asked. That seemed to snap him out of his daze, as he returned to reality. "Ugh, yeah, I'm fine." He said. "I'm just gonna go for a rest." He walked off, leaving several important questions unanswered.

But he didn't care. Things would get done regardless, Kutaragi would learn about Arc being made of crystals, which even Jacket had a hard time wrapping his head around.

But right now, he had other plans.

A few minutes later, Jacket was talking to Sackboy and Iota.

"So, do you think you guys can help?"

The two looked at each other and smiled, before looking back at Jacket and nodding.

"Great! Thanks guys!"

* * *

"Looks like the God of War isn't good enough this time." Metal mused as Kratos struggled to stand. His Chaos Energy still fueled him enough to keep going for a good while.

Nariko was down too, trying to reach the Heavenly

"Come on!" Shadow gritted his teeth and tried again. Why wasn't it working?

Then he heard Omega's clunky footsteps drawing closer.

Shadow looked up at Omega. "What?" He demanded, visibly frustrated. "The All-Stars are failing." Omega stated. "So?" Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Why aren't you helping them?"

"I think the correct question would be 'why are you not providing assistance, Shadow?' You are his equal."

Shadow shook his head. "Not without Chaos Energy."

"At least reveal his identity, so that they may prepare for what they must confront." Omega suggested.

"No." Shadow answered. "You saw what he did. He destroyed everything we had. Now we have nothing. You saw." Omega remained silent. "Sonic, Tails, Knuckles...Rouge." Omega didn't feel any emotions, and Shadow was still a stranger to them himself, but even then, they were both saddened by the loss of the third Team Dark member.

"If he was too good for Sonic, then I'll stop him. I'm not going to let everyone else on earth have to lose everything! Especially to him!"

Omega just stood there, forgetting that the All-Stars would have needed him back by now. What mattered was...his friend.

"Shadow. The All-Stars are what we have now. If they are to be kept in the dark as to Metal's true identity, well, we are giving him the upper hand." Shadow shook his head. "You don't understand, if he knows it was me, he'll-" "If we fail in our endeavor, the world will fall just as easily. Maybe you will have to win this battle by yourself. But reveal his identity, and you will not enter it alone." Omega tossed a small cube, about the size of a sugar cube, at Shadow. "He anticipated your efforts." Omega explained. Shadow smiled. "Alright." He smashed the cube in the palm of his hand and absorbed the AP, allowing himself to go super.

Cole fired another blast of electricity at Metal. The All-Stars were to keep standing standing, all of them combined being able to fend off the robotic shapeshifter, but not for much longer. "I hate to say it, but I'm running out of electricity to supply you with!" X explained to Cole as he fired Shotgun Ice at Metal, hoping to freeze him.

Kat was unsettled by blood. She had usually only ever fought Nevi, so blood was a rare sight. Usually, enemies just dissolved into nothing. But she could still see and look around. Even though it hurt her to do even that much, she could still do that.

She called on Dusty, allowing the cat to expand and wrap around her and give her a panther like appearance.

She felt relief as she was healed of her injuries, returned to peak physical condition.

That was enough to attract Metal's attention, as he turned to face the Gravity Panther.

"Finally. A worthy challenge."

Kat lunged into the air, charging at Metal, who in return, charged back, stopping the speeding ball with the Panther's Paws.

She then let up for just a second, allowing Metal to prepare an attack, which was exactly what Kat wanted.

She clapped her hands on Metal, who just managed to get the black shield up.

"Damn! How are we gonna beat that?!" Dante yelled over his gun fire. "I think I know!" Cole smiled and pointed at the Shield.

You would've had to concentrate to see it, but in the corner of the shield, there was a crack.

"Perfect!" Metal grunted as he tried to hold out for as long as he could. But it didn't look like he would win, as the shield's cracks grew and grew, before the whole shield was ready to break.

But then, Kat returned to normal. "Huh?!" Kat stared at her hands, unable to believe she had run out of time.

"Time limits can be pesky, can't they?" Metal launched another overhead kick, sending the shifter flying to the ground.

"As Shadow would know. Speaking of which, I hope the coward shows up, to see-"

Metal was then hit by a bright yellow blast, enough to send even him sprawling.

Looking up he saw Shadow, bright yellow and orange fur replacing his usually grim colour scheme. "Tch! I expected more than a cheap shot like that from you, Shadow!" Metal scolded. "You're one to talk!" Shadow shot back. "Constantly hiding. Can't say I expected more though, Metal."

Metal was slightly taken aback. "Come on, show yourself!" Shadow demanded. The All-Stars, who had stopped their attacks, were confused. Metal was feeling the same. What happened to Shadow? Would he follow through on his threat of destroying civilization? No. He would do it eventually, but not now, when the All-Stars could stop him.

But still, when Shadow had the gall to do that out of nowhere….it sparked something within him.

But he wasn't frustrated. Or annoyed. It made him…excited. Finally, Shadow had broken that mental lock of his. Metal laughed. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever come out of your shell. I was worried for a minute." He melted into a pool of silver liquid and slowly creeped up again.

But this time, no disguises. His form was cold blue metallic exterior complete with a metallic robe. He had his chest laser exposed, along with the screen on the front of his face with two red dots on it that passed for his eyes. The All-Stars were taken aback. "What?!" Kratos was furious that a hedgehog was the one to have beaten him so well.

"Metal Sonic. Want me to wait while you turn into an oversized dragon again?" Shadow suggested. "I'll do nothing of the sort. You'd love for me to do that, wouldn't you?" Metal declined. "Regardless, I eagerly await you in Calypso's Realm."

Before Omega could unload a hail of bullets on him, he took off into the sky leaving the All-Stars behind him. Kratos, Delsin and Nariko were just recovering from the beat down, still hurt, but they could shake it off.

"So it was that hedgehog." Nariko got to her feet. "I should have known." She then turned to Shadow. "You said you knew his name, hedgehog." Shadow nodded. "Metal Sonic. I'll explain back on the plane." Shadow, still in his super form, stood on top of the emerald and concentrated.

"Chaos…." He could feel the energy flowing through him. "CONTROL!" Within the blink of an eye, Angel Island was on top of the water, as Shadow stood off the Master Emerald. "Won't the island sink?" Dart questioned. Shadow nodded. "Yeah, but at least there won't be a disaster elsewhere." The other All-Stars went to go back to Angel City for the plane, but before they could leave, the plane pulled up alongside them.

"Hey guys!" Deadpool yelled over the roar of the engine. "You know, I'm really disappointed, I wanted revenge on that guy myself! Teach him to make a fool out of me! But anyway, I was..."

The All-Stars looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders and just letting him babble on.

Now they could bring the illustrious piece to the puzzle home.

* * *

"Alrighty, folks! Grab your popcorn and soda, 'cause this is a one time exclusive event!" Damien announced as he inserted the USB drive.

Snake, Aiden, T-Bone, Raiden, Radec and Isaac were there to see the video Damien had told them about, exposing Calypso's motivations.

"Just play the damn thing." Aiden sighed, disgusted about having to work with Damien.

The video started, with Calypso taking centre stage in this flick. However, there were three other performers trying to steal the show.

White flowing hair which obscured some of Calypso's face, obviously not his, and two enormous mounds at either bottom corner of the screen, as if they were trying to get you to focus really hard on Calypso. It was obvious this wasn't a professional setup, but then Aiden realized that the two mounds were breasts.

It was a woman's perspective. The hair covering the camera was her trying to obscure the camera, which seemed pretty cheap, but it seemed to be working.

The video started with Calypso talking.

"Yes. As you've heard, I recently captured Ash." He produced a pocket radio. "Hear these?" He asked, tuning it to a frequency where screaming and wailing could be heard. The woman seemed surprised. "Is that Ash?" Calypso shook his head.

"Not Ash, but other All-Stars, still satisfying." He put away the radio. "What about the threat posed to you now?" She asked. Calypso looked confused. "What threat?" Then he realized what she was talking about. "The one posed by you?" He laughed. "Water under a bridge at the moment." He said, dismissing it all.

"What happens when your buddies find out what you're planning? What then?" She asked. "As for the rest of them? All idiots. Useful idiots, mind you. Gigadis, Calaca and Zarok especially. They won't be able to pull their heads out of their own asses until it's too late." The woman shook her head, evident from the hair moving slightly.

"Maybe. But you told me about one mystery man you can't seem to crack. He seems powerful." Calypso scowled. "I'm glad you reminded me. Whoever he is, I'll find out what he's hiding from me..." He paused. "I'll make him suffer for that much."

The woman laughed a little. "So, this means we can't be friends?" Calypso shrugged. "Depends. I demand a lot of authority though, and I'm not sure you'd be too comfortable with that." He started to smile. "You know me too well, William."

Then she paused. "That name doesn't suit you at all." Calypso didn't react. "That's why I call myself Calypso." He explained. "Much better name." Finally, he got up from his seat. "Well, I must leave you to your own devices. I have other issues to attend to."

As the screen jumped to static, the All-Stars stood there, half in shock, half kind of knowing that Calypso would try something like this.

But still, while Calypso's motivations remained a mystery, they didn't matter as much as the other question on their minds.

"Who's the lady?" Snake asked. "Believe me, I've never seen her before I watched the video." Aiden walked up to him, pressing a gun against his head. "If you're lying to us-" "I don't exactly have much to hide, Aiden!" Damien cut him off. "I've never seen her before. Had nothing on her. I even took all the files I had on you guys, and my old team." He tried to reason, gesturing to a large hard drive on the desk nearby.

"Absolutely nothing." Raiden stepped forward. "Maybe we can make Calypso talk." He suggested. Damien shook his head. "Not likely. Before you guys showed up, I got word of our final plan. The guys are waiting you out. As I explained, Polygon Man had a double agent or something here, who he planned on using to completely drain your supply, and kill you off under his heel."

"Well then, what now?" Radec questioned. "As I said to Aiden," He looked over at his old protégé, who glared in response, "I can program any old teleporter to take you across dimensions. Like, for instance, Calypso's."

"We already have that painting though. Why do we need you?" Isaac asked. "Because, you'll still need to get to Polygon Man's dimension from there." Damien answered. "You see, you guys did a pretty good job scaring the poor guy, once you got your shit together. He got antsy, and shut off any direct links between his place and this world. That was part of the reason he combined all your worlds into one. But there was a problem. He still needed to keep in touch with us, so he made it so people had to go to Calypso's place to get to him."

"Then what happens when we get into Calypso's Realm?" Isaac asked. "Can't he just easily shut off links like he did with this world?"

"Shut off the only way to retreat for his villains? Not likely. If I can say one thing nice about the guy, he's a team player. Treated us all fairly, gave us free roam over what we did, there's no way he thought poorly of anyone on his team. He'd view that as being a wuss." Damien explained.

"So you can help us find this place?" Snake asked. "Sure can. I'm gonna need some time to program the teleporter if you want me to get it done though."

The All-Stars shrugged. "Fine." T-Bone agreed. "Just promise you'll get us there." Damien nodded. As they all turned to leave, Damien called out to them.

"If you want my advice, train like crazy. You're gonna be in for one hell of a fight."

 ** _Author's Note_**

The All-Stars finally have the Master Emerald, and also Metal has been exposed!

As for the jab at DmC Dante, I don't really care about that, I wasn't interested in DevilMayCry at the time, so it'd tough to get worked up over it. Still, I can sort of understand the hate, which is enough for me.

Calypso's finally been exposed by the All-Stars as a self-serving power hungry tyrant, but is any of that going to impact the battle?

Who is the woman in the video?What's her relation to Calypso?

Also, some of you probably have seen this coming from the start, but I will be doing the same for both Nintendo and Microsoft as I did for PSAS. For Nintendo, I'll leave something for my roster, that I've added 12 characters, one of which was in Smash Flash 2, you can probably guess who that is. Also, two don't orignate from video games per se, but have a good amount to do with them, and even got their own games in the end. But as for the other 9, I'm keeping their reveals strictly for when I come around to that.

As for Microsoft, wonder no longer, I've uploaded the first few chapters of the Microsoft Elite, under Super Smash Brothers category, my 52 man roster for Microsoft's crossover fighting game, plus some gameplay ideas.

Until Next Time!


	42. Just like friends Pt4

Well, today was the last day. The last day before heading out into the unknown of Calypso's Realm, hoping to reach the even more unknown location of Polygon Man.

As for the All-Stars, they were all doing different things, with some training, some relaxing, with everyone having their own thing to do.

Joel and Ellie were trying to improve their rusty teamwork against Lil and Laarg. X, Zero, Omega and Shadow all focused on strategy for the battle ahead, as did Radec, Aiden, Sir Daniel, Sir Galahad, Geralt, Raiden, Lara and Nathan Drake.

It seemed everyone was occupied with something, except for one person.

Sitting in his quarters, Mr. Ash couldn't bring himself to get up and go out. Most of the other All-Stars were training by this point, at the behest of Kenneth Kutaragi. It wasn't mandatory, but it was strongly encouraged.

But as for Ash, he knew taking down Calypso was going to push him to his limits, and beyond. He would have to do it on his own though, as the All-Stars were likely still afraid of him, and there was no way he could change that.

That was when there was a knock on his door. "Strange." He muttered. "Wonder who that could be?" He went to answer the door, only to find no one there. He looked left and right, and yet, he saw no one.

"Yoo-hoo!"

Mr. Ash looked down. It was…..a cake? The cake walked inside, setting itself down on the ground. That was when Mr. Ash noticed Sackboy and Iota were carrying the cake. "Oh. Is that for me?" He asked, intrigued by the gesture. "Uh-hu!" Iota nodded. He was the one of the two capable of speech, but he could only communicate through a limited amount of noises. Still, it at least helped him to convey emotions and answer questions.

The cake itself looked like chocolate, but it was hastily thrown together. The two Media Molecule mascots obviously noticed this, and so Sackboy changed his costume to imitate the Fat Princess. "Ah, okay. I get it." Mr. Ash nodded to show his understanding.

Then the two ran over to him and hugged his legs. Mr. Ash was taken aback. "Hold on." He stopped them. "What's going on?" That was when Sackboy clicked his fingers, (or he would have, if he had any) and brought up his PopIt. Once he had that out, he took out an envelope and handed it to Mr. Ash.

It wasn't sealed, and so he didn't have any trouble opening it, just to reveal three words.

'WE FORGIVE YOU'

Mr. Ash stopped. Then he looked at Iota and Sackboy, eagerly awaiting a reaction. He couldn't help but smile. It was only the smallest thing, and yet, the effort put into it for him was enough to make anyone smile. Maybe they didn't understand how serious his crimes were, but no. They had to know. They were there, they saw what happened, they had to know.

Yet they forgave him anyway.

"Thanks." Was all he could say. But he wanted to say a lot more, just not having the words to do so. But before he could search for the words he wanted to use, Sackboy started tugging on his leg, and Iota pointed outside into the corridor. Mr. Ash forgot he left the door open, but thankfully, no one walked by. Putting the cake on his desk, he walked outside with the two, following them through the corridors, down to the multi-purpose pitch.

He saw Jacket, Lionel, CJ, Kobe and even Sweet Tooth down there, just kicking a ball around. "Hey man!" Jacket called out to him when he saw the three enter. Mr. Ash smiled upon realizing what was going on.

"You set this up, didn't you?" He pressed, walking up to Jacket. Jacket smiled. "A little thank you for helping me out."

"Bah! What help? He's done nothing for you!" The man in the chicken mask spat. "What about everything I've done for you?! You'd be dead without me!" Jacket rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I've heard that one before. Why not come up with something original? Like, let's say...how you need me?" He quizzed. The man in the chicken mask froze. "What?" He demanded. "You heard me. You get a kick out of all that murder, all that shit I did." Jacket pressed. "So you're pushing the blame onto me?" The man scoffed. "I expected nothing more of you." Jacket shook his head. "I'm not blaming anyone but myself. For listening to you for so long. What would you be able to do without me? Jack shit, I think. Correct me if I'm wrong."

Then he advanced towards the man, who slowly backed away with every step Jacket took towards him. "You think you'll be able to get rid of me so easily?!" He demanded. "Ha! I'll follow you to your grave!" He laughed nervously as he hit a wall. "I wouldn't dream of it." Jacket retaliated, pulling the chicken mask off his head. "NOOOOOOoooooo..." The screams became more and more distant as he faded away. Just as Jacket had suspected, there was nothing underneath the mask. It was over. Well, almost. But that wasn't for now.

"He's gone now." Jacket laughed. "I have you to thank. This is my thanks." Mr. Ash smiled a little. "I didn't think you knew how to smile, Ash." Sweet Tooth remarked. Mr. Ash ignored him and kept on smiling, touched by the gesture. Though it didn't absolve him of any sins he commited, it made him feel...good. Very good, in fact. But he put those thoughts aside to just enjoy the game they were going to play, and for the first time in a long time, enjoy himself.

* * *

Delsin and Kat had just walked out onto the landing deck, which was, unusually, empty. "Well, I guess this is all I'm gonna have time to say about the story." Delsin explained. "Well, in that case, we must be quick."

Delsin nodded before sighing. Having Kat around made things easier, but it was still going to be tough to talk about what he had to say next.

What had been explained in the meantime was that Augustine had gone through the nearly the entire tribe looking for answers, leaving them seriously injured. Delsin's conduit healing factor was enough to remove the shrapnels from his body, but as for the rest of the Akomish tribe, they were dying. Reggie was one of only a few other people who hadn't been hit by it.

The only way for the tribe to possibly survive was to take the shrapnels out, the same way they went in. That meant getting Augustine's powers, by going with Reggie to Seattle and using his power sponge abilities to get the powers.

Along the way, he met Fetch and Eugene, getting their powers, but also meeting up with Hank again.

The same guy who gave him his smoke powers had somehow busted out of Curden Cay a second time, and wanted to hurt the D.U.P. for locking him up.

Once Delsin found him, the two were on the lookout for ways to disrupt any progress the D.U.P. could make.

One day, Delsin found it.

* * *

It was an overcast day, as per usual in Seattle, heading towards the evening. This was normally around the time Delsin and Reggie met up after a day of looking for Augustine, but waiting by the old billboard where Fetch used to live, Delsin noticed Reggie was nowhere to be seen.

Then his phone started ringing. "Hello?" Delsin answered. "Hey, Delsin, you can trace this, right?" It was Reggie. "Sure, yeah. You want me to go to wherever you are?" Delsin asked. "Yeah, just something I thought you should see." He hung up without another word. The next thing he did was call Hank, and tell him where to go.

Delsin made his way to the dock, where Reggie was looking out to sea through a pair of binoculars. "Hey Reggie." Delsin looked out to sea. It was a...platform? It was unclear. "I want to help those people." He said, handing the binoculars to Delsin.

Looking through them, he saw the platform belonged to the D.U.P. and it wasn't too far offshore. A concrete platform as well. But Delsin knew what it was. A detention centre. The D.U.P. were still looking for Fetch, Eugene and Hank, so they had to keep the other conduits somewhere until they found them.

"Not bio-terrorists, not conduits, people." Delsin looked at his brother. Reggie had come a long way since only a few days ago, from telling Delsin not to use his powers to now going out of his way to suggest they rescue conduits trapped by the D.U.P.

"Thanks Reg." Was all Delsin could say. "For, uh..." "Hey, what's this cop doing here?" Hank demanded, showing up and pointing at Reggie, recognizing him from when Delsin first got his smoke powers.

Before Reggie could answer, Delsin cut in. "He's my brother, okay? He's here to help us." The akomish conduit explained. Reggie kept his eye on Hank, but moved on.

"I've been doing some recon." He told them. "Our best way in is the dock at the far side. It's much less exposed, and then I figured you two could use your smoke...gift." It seemed Reggie still had some way to go before normalizing that in his head. "Thank you." Delsin encouraged his brother before he continued. "While I commandeer a boat and distract them from behind."

"Now why do you gotta go in first?" Hank questioned. Reggie slowly walked over to him, explaining in a condescending tone. "Because, I'm a cop. I commandeer a boat, and it's legal. You steal a boat, and I'm gonna have to haul your ass in."

It was obvious at that point to everyone there that Reggie and Hank didn't like each other. As they stared each other down, Delsin felt it would be best to break the tension.

"Oh yeah, he'll do it too...totally." Delsin weakly backed up his brother. Reggie then went to walk away, turning to Delsin just as he left. "Stay safe, okay?" He advised, glancing over at Hank before going looking for a boat.

Delsin and Hank made their way out to the artificial platform with relative ease, thanks to Reggie, but there were still D.U.P. soldiers in the way. What the two were trying to get to was a core relay. Truthfully, Delsin had no idea why the D.U.P. used them, but when he used them, they gave him more powers to use with the different elements he could control.

The two smoke conduits easily blasted their way through everything that was thrown at them, making their way to the core relay in no time.

"Well, here it is. Y'just bust it open now and do what ya gotta do." Delsin looked skeptically at the box. "I don't know man..." Hank raised an eyebrow. "Something's not right."

"What's not right?" Hank asked. "Just...something. When I've been around these before, I got a feeling, but now..." Delsin was so concentrated on working out what was going on, he didn't see the concrete clamps rising behind him.

"There, now!" Hank yelled. Before Delsin could react, the two clamps came down on his hands, binding them and preventing him from using his powers. "I brought him here, just like you asked!" Hank continued. "Now just do what you said you was gonna do, and I'll be gone!" Delsin wondered who he was talking to for a second before a voice confirmed their identity. "Oh, Henry. You didn't disappoint me." Delsin realized he had been played the entire time. Hank turned to run while Delsin yelled after him. "You son of a bitch! I trusted you!"

Augustine laughed. "I made those bonds especially for you." Delsin looked down at his hands and noticed that his legs were slowly being encased as well. "Oh, lady." Delsin gritted his teeth. "When my brother finds out what you've done, he is gonna-" "He's gonna what?" Augustine quizzed, not taking him seriously.

But Delsin could see over her left shoulder, standing on a far away platform with a rocket launcher was his older brother. Reggie fired just as Augustine turned around, but it wasn't fast enough to do anything else. Augustine was blown back by the blast, as was Delsin, although they went in different directions. Thankfully, Delsin's legs were free again, though his hands were still bound. He wasted no time in getting away from Augustine, running to another platform where there were turrets positioned to open fire on him. He could still hear his brother though.

"Reggie! Hank double-crossed us!" Delsin yelled. "I knew it! You should have trusted me!" Reggie yelled back as Delsin took cover while a turret unloaded all its bullets into a concrete pillar.

As the human power sponge ran across a bridgeway while the turret reloaded, he rolled his eyes at his always right brother. "Yeah, yeah, I know!" He shot back.

"You know, even though you have super powers, it wouldn't hurt you to listen to your brother every once in a while!" Reggie retalliated. Delsin didn't have a response to that. Reggie seemed very genuinely concerned for his little brother when he said that.

"Just get over here quickly and I'll get those cuffs of you!" The sheriff instructed.

Delsin wasted no time in getting to his brother, who was standing at the back of the main platform on the concrete base. It was in the centre and covered a lot of ground. Reggie was standing on the back section, elevated above the rest and connected by a set of steps. Delsin made his way up to Reggie, who was standing by a small rock which came up to his waist. Obviously he was using it as a table to put his ammo on.

The table was bare though.

"Alright, I'm all out of shots." Reggie confirmed Delsin's worst fears, taking the launcher off his shoulder. "Well then, how the hell are we gonna get these off?" He demanded. "The old fashioned way." Reggie responded. "Put your hands on the table." He instructed. "Wait, hold on-" "Don't flinch." He ordered, slamming down on the concrete binds with the launcher, breaking them.

Delsin quickly pulled his hands away, but got over the pain. Then a blast of concrete flew past the two, knocking Reggie to the ground. Delsin immediately knew who it was. "Leave my brother alone, you bitch!" He snarled at Brooke Augustine who was standing at the centre of the main platform.

Quickly turning his attention back to Reggie, he realized in horror that his legs were becoming encased in concrete as he lay on the ground. "Reg!" Delsin cried out, going down to his brother's side. Reggie looked up, but not at his brother. Augustine had a giant concrete pillar positioned above the two, and it was slowly falling. "Oh dear God!" Was all Reggie got out before it fell.

Delsin reacted quickly, grabbing his brother in one hand and the nearest platform in the other as the pillar tore through the platform. He was hanging precariously above the sea, not good, considering he couldn't swim.

Still, at least he had Reggie, and he could pull them both up. He looked down at his big brother. Then he looked again.

Oh shit.

It was at Reggie's ankles, but the concrete was slowly crawling up his body. Delsin could feel it too, making Reggie heavier and heavier.

No. No. No, that couldn't happen. He would get them both up. They would get out. Delsin immediately tried hoisting the two up with little success, but that didn't stop him from trying.

"Delsin. Delsin, listen to me!" Reggie called out.

"It's okay, Reg! I'll get us out of here!" Delsin replied, still giving everything he had.

"No, Delsin, look at me. Look at me."

It pained him, but Delsin looked down. The concrete was approaching his waist, and it wasn't slowing down. "I can't let this stuff get to you too." Delsin felt tears welling up in his eyes. "No, don't say that!" Delsin shook his head. "I'm so proud of you." Reggie continued. "No! No!" Delsin screamed. The concrete had reached his arms. Seconds later, and it would reach Delsin.

It hurt Reggie too, but he had no choice.

"I love you, brother."

With that, he let go.

"NOOOOO! REGGIE!" Delsin cried as his brother fell into the water below.

It had happened so fast. It was all his fault. He shouldn't have...if he could have...if he only...

He slowly hoisted himself up, completely destroyed on the inside. His brother. He was never going to see him again. All those times where they argued, Delsin kept on getting arrested, he had been a failure as a brother.

There was no chance of ever changing that.

But he could make the one responsible pay. Without a seconds thought, he charged after Brooke Augustine.

In the end, he tracked down Hank, but let him go on the condition that he never saw him again.

As for Augustine, he got the powers he needed, exposed Augustine as a crook, and had her sent to prison for life.

The conduits from all D.U.P. detention centres were freed, as both conduit and human could coexist in harmony.

He didn't forget about the Akomish either. He healed his tribe when he returned home, and told Betty what happened to Reggie.

That sign he vandalized, he spent the next few weeks re-painting in Reggie's honour.

But it never filled that hole inside his heart.

* * *

He was quiet. Trying to hold back tears, and doing surprisingly well. Kat was silent. She should have seen that much coming, truth be told, but the impact was still as massive. Was he at fault? Sort of. He carried that on his shoulders, as a burden from which he would never be able to free himself. For him to even keep going, it would take a lot. But Reggie seemed to provide that motivation that he needed, just enough to keep him going. Enough to keep trying to do the right thing, and bridge a gap between his kind and the every-man.

"Delsin...I...I did not know..."

"You probably do." He said quietly. "Even if you don't realize it. People like us carry a big 'X' on our heads, so big it affects everyone around us. Most of the time, it hurts them. Like it did with Reggie. Like it did with...Raven."

Delsin missed Reggie, naturally. Although, despite this, meeting up with all the other All-Stars, a lot of them had the same story. Even people without super powers, when they tried to stand up for what was right, people looked to hurt them in the worst way possible. There might have been physical blows strong enough to kill him, but to Augustine, or to anyone else, for that matter, to hurt the people he cared about, and make him feel worse about himself because of it. Kat had lost a lot too. She left her whole world behind, and Delsin knew that Calypso wasn't lying when he brought up those things some people had said to her. Once you've fucked up like that, those insults hurt just that bit more.

It didn't surprise him when Calypso brought up those things Kat had been called, but it did upset him. There were always people who were going to try and stop you because of a bad impression someone left on them. That's why Delsin tried to get people and conduits to coexist, so both sides could have something positive to remember the other by. If he could be remembered for making a piece of history like that, Delsin would be happy. He knew Reggie would be proud as well. Kat did the same. She had already made an impact. She gave her life to the entire cause, and her world was a better place because of it. Just looking at Hekseville and how its people looked up to Raven because they saw Kat in her.

The two went quiet, with Delsin wrapped deep in thought about Reggie, and Kat wondering what she should say next. He had been through a lot in such a short space of time, she knew how that felt for sure. Of course people said bad things about her, and her job was never easy, there were some things that made it that much more tolerable. Having someone who you still cared about, who still stuck by your side even if you were a freak still made her smile even on her worst days. Delsin needed that now.

"Well, he must be proud of you." Delsin turned to Kat. "I hope so." Kat laughed. "Come on! Can't you take a compliment? Smile, Delsin!" Delsin did smile. "Alright, I'm sorry! Y'know, not everyone's as good as you are!"

Kat shrugged. "Maybe. But I think I have much to learn also. Staying here has opened my eyes to that. People here are fantastic, wonderful, trés bien."

"Like who?" Delsin asked. "Well, for a start, you. I would have done the same thing in Reggie's place."

Tears started to form in Delsin's eyes. "I...I miss him. I know people say it gets easier, but it doesn't. Y'know, every day, he's on my mind. I feel like the only thing I can do is try to emulate him, like he would have wanted from his little brother."

"Mission accomplished."

Kat leaned in and kissed him. Delsin was taken aback, much like the last time, but Kat didn't pull away like the last time. She just stayed there, locking her lips with his, and she didn't care what anyone else thought.

Neither did Delsin. All things considered, maybe it was Reggie looking out for him. He always liked to think that. Maybe this is what he wanted. Reggie always talked about having a purpose in life, and being responsible. Not that Delsin ever payed much attention, but he still remembered, somehow.

He hadn't shown any responsibility around Reggie at all, and in the end, that was what cost him his life.

Delsin knew he would never get away from that. He would be haunted by that for the rest of his life. But now hr had a chance to do things right, and there was no way he would mess up again.

Cole watched from a distance. He felt….happy. Knowing what that was like, being a freak in a world where everyone was afraid of you or wanted you dead, having just one person there who you cared about was all you really needed to keep you from going over the edge. Kat and Delsin had that in each other, and Cole saw that as a wonderful thing.

"Sure is nice, innit?" John Marston asked as he approached Cole. The conduit nodded. "Yeah." He sighed. "I know what….I know what that's like." He explained, getting a lump in his throat. John patted him on the shoulder. "Never easy, is it? Losin' someone ya love." Cole shook his head. "I wouldn't worry too much about it. Y'know whoever she is, she'll be-"

They were interrupted by the sound of 'Careless Whisper' blaring from a nearby boom box. Deadpool. Of course it would have to be him. John took out his revolver and shot it six times, making sure Deadpool would whistle with more care next time. The Merc with a Mouth left in a bad mood, but Delsin and Kat gave a thumbs up before walking over.

"You saw all that?" Delsin asked. John put his hands up. "My eyes are clean." Cole had regained his composure in the meantime, able to speak without choking up. "All I heard was that boom box, we just came over to shut it off." Cole backed him up.

Delsin seemed satisfied, but Kat seemed to see through the guise. Not that she cared. "Anyway, since y'all are here, I could use some shootin' practise. How about givin' me that? Y'all could use a workout too." The other three agreed, and so all four headed down to practice.

* * *

Jak and Ratchet were having a practice match in one of the arenas, one on one, or you could technically call it two on two, with Daxter and Clank. Speaking of Clank, he just got the Level 2 to end the match. After the traditional victory and defeat poses, they shook hands.

"Not bad. I think we're gonna be ready for tomorrow." Jak congratulated Ratchet. "Well, I'm just glad that we made it this far in such a short space of time." Ratchet added. "Y'know, we had some luck on our side and everything, but we did okay." Jak shrugged. "Can't argue with that. Guess we're gonna have to see if that luck's gonna come with us tomorrow though." Daxter scoffed. "Pft! When have we ever needed luck?" He questioned. "Well, there was that time when-" "Exactly! With us on the job, these guys won't know what hit 'em!"

* * *

Rayman, Cloud, Sora and Dart were also having a practise match, while Dan, Johnny, Heihachi and Nightmare did the same. Yes, it seemed to Kutaragi that everyone was wrapped up in their own little routines, with few stopping to take a break.

But, there was something else. He hoped that, just maybe, they would be able to keep the All-Stars together after the fight. However, there was little chance of that happening.

If they chose to have their memories wiped the last time, what would suggest anything different this time? He knew some of them were leaving anyway, regardless of the outcome.

"Thinking about the future?" Eggman asked. Kutaragi turned to face the mad scientist. "You know I'd love to keep the All-Stars together, don't you?" Eggman nodded. "I can't understand why, but yes, I do know." Kutaragi sighed. "But they won't. They all have other lives to attend to. It was a lot of effort just to get the All-Stars that I did just for this emergency. I doubt I'll even be allowed to."

Eggman shook his head. "All we need to do is focus on tomorrow, when you do have all of them. Brenks says he'll have it ready soon." With that, he walked out.

Kutaragi thought about it for a second. Why did he want to keep the team together? Half of them couldn't stand each other's guts. They were only fighting on the same side now to fend off a greater threat. Why did he want a team like that?

Though he asked himself why, he knew the answer.

It was a culmination of everything he had created. His very best he could muster. Though there were some sacrifices he made here and there, he put together a roster the best way he knew how. The fact that they had done so much in so little time was a sign of how great they could be as a team.

Yes, that was it. He was thinking of them as a family, which they weren't. They would never make a good family.

But they made a damn good team.

 ** _Author's Note_**

Back to PSAS for now, in this chapter for just wrapping up some smaller stories focusing on the characters before the final fight. Gonna have a chapter from the villains perspective too before that though.

In relation to The Microsoft Elite, I've decided to include fatalities just because I wanted too, and I've found a way for them to be incorporated into a plot. Not that I'm a gore fanatic or anything, but there's a few characters (Rick Taylor, Dr. Edward Richtofen and Hisako) where I felt like I was really missing out. I'll be including N.K.'s DLC characters as well, bringing the roster up to 60, which is way more than I ever thought I'd get.

If you're wondering, yes, I'm gonna be doing the same thing with Smash Bros., albeit, it's not gonna be immediate. I mentioned in an earlier chapter I would introduce 12 characters, with hints of who 3 of them are. Now as I write this, I'm wondering whether or not I should reveal the names of who I've chosen. Maybe, maybe not, I say to myself, because I'm still gonna have to get through some other stuff before I write that, so I'll leave a small hint for every character, see if you can guess who they are. Oh yeah, and I've added one more (It was 7).

1\. The iconic face of a company that has since gone bankrupt, this guy now belongs to Konami, and has been around since the NES days.

2\. Like 1, he has been around since the NES days, but unlike 1, he always belonged to Konami.

3\. SnooPING AS usual, I see!

4\. The brains behind Sheep Man.

5\. Protagonist of two series, one of which recently had a crossover with a Nintendo franchise, proudly wears the same clothes 365 days a year.

6."Dusknoir…..I'm taking you back to the future!"

7\. Demon from hell with an unhealthy obsession with his victim's brother, and his own cooking show.

8\. Enjoys solving puzzles, drinking tea, and all round Britishness.

9\. Protagonist to a Capcom Gameboy Colour game, uses her hair as a weapon.

10\. Playstation All-Star currently (in my fanfic, anyway), appeared as a trophy in SSB4.

11\. Unlike Sonic, doesn't chuckle.

12\. Aggressive SEGA spokesperson with undying loyalty to the Saturn.

13\. The angriest gamer you've ever heard.


	43. Final Stand

Polygon Man had to prepare for the All-Stars. So he gave himself some time alone, telling the villains where they would be fighting. It was, of course, Calypso's Realm. The tortured screams of the damned did little to deter any of them from preparing. More unsettling, was Calypso himself.

As far as Zarok was concerned, Calypso was untrustworthy. The recent and mysterious disappearance of Gigadis left many questions unanswered.

But one such question that had a written in stone answer was that of 'What would happen if you got on Calypso's bad side?'

You would find out where Gigadis went, that's what would happen. Damien had gone too, defecting to the All-Stars, but not giving any reason as to why he did. Zarok had his suspicions that Calypso had a huge hand in that decision. No one knew where Calaca was, though it didn't concern them.

Sephiroth and Izanagi were practising for their showdown with JRPG protagonists, while Black Doom, Edgar Ross, Gundahar, Augustine and Sigma got their troops in order.

Doctor Nefarious made sure all his machines were in working order, while Devil Jin Kazama was practicing his sparring techniques. There were all those Calypso had ressurected too, although...they troubled Metal.

It seemed no one was willing to confront Calypso about the skeletons he had in his closet.

Metal didn't care much, he would simply have to do it himself.

Face to face.

That's right. Metal was done with disguises. The All-Stars were fast approaching, with little to no knowledge on him, and only Shadow would dare attack him, maybe with Omega as well.

He took off for the main tower in the entire realm. He didn't have far to look, seeing Calypso standing on top of the tower, staring off into space.

"One day. One day from now, I will have completed my revenge." He muttered. "I mustn't slip up now. Not now. I've come too far for that to happen."

"Mind explaining a few things?" The voice made Calypso jump, as he was so wrapped up in his own throughts. It was that same dark figure again. The one who never showed his face.

"Like what?" Calypso asked. "Like what's your deal with everyone who's on your side?" Metal asked. Calypso raised an eyebrow. "I...may not see eye to eye with all my allies, but I cannot see where you're coming from."

Metal then made his move. He melted down into the familiar silver puddle, moving closer to Calypso as his eyes widened, realizing what was happening. Metal slowly began to reform, but not in any diguise. He had shown himself as Metal Sonic.

"I should have figured it was you, Metal Sonic." Calypso barely whispered, still in shock. "You know my name?" Metal was surprised. "I know many things. Bit I never figured...UGH!" Calypso was kicking himself for not putting the pieces together sooner.

"Now. Let's talk. First you tried to off Zarok in Columbia. Care to explain that? How about way back in Chicago, when you let Pyramid Head kill Ragewolf and Magusar? Gigadis' disappearance as well, only you, Calaca and Zarok knew where he was. Zarok told me about you going to 'talk' to him. Must have been a long talk, it took three days. Brenks was next in line, which is why he left. He let down all the CTobots by himself, that's why it all happened so soon. Le Paradox was in on the whole thing too, and so he had to go. You've got a pretty impressive streak by the sound of things, unless you can prove me wrong."

Calypso's next reaction was a sickening one. A crooked smile formed in the corner of his lips as he stared down Metal. "Well, well. That's some super sleuthing."

"Everyone else was next. Including me. That's why I kept my identity a secret. I always had my suspicions, Calypso, but know I can confirm that you-"

"Yes, Metal. I did in fact set out to destroy you. But why shouldn't I? Give me one reason.

Metal finally saw Calypso for what he was. A shallow, despicable vile person. His powers only amplified that aspect of him. "What an asshole." Metal finally said. Calypso laughed. "Really? After everything, that's what you come up with? I'm an asshole? I'm not a very nice person, as you put it, but that's your grand conclusion?" Metal said nothing. "Why shouldn't I be, Metal? You know better than everyone else, no one can rule animals. Even when the infallible come along, it is always the duty of someone else to point out the flaws and get people to take up arms against those once considered heroes. It will happen those All-Stars too, just you wait. I'll put a stop to all of that. This is just the beginning for me."

Metal wasn't interested in making that a talking point. "I don't understand why you don't co-operate with us."

"Oh, I will co-operate with you. We have a common enemy. After that, however..."

"Tch! You knew what I meant. I may not agree with everyone here, but they do not mean each other harm. Except for you. Even Sigma was able to put his hatred of organic life aside in order to achieve this goal." Metal countered.

"Maybe that's so. But I, and I alone will have complete power. You know I'm not the only one who wants that." Calypso argued. "I have little time for this petty arguement. Go and prepare for the battle, and we shall talk afterwards. Revealing your identity was almost as big a mistake as keeping it hidden from me." He laughed as flames encircled him, taking him away from his office.

Metal shook his head. That coward. He didn't trust anyone else, not wanting to share his power, and so he figured the way to go was to stab everyone else in the back to get his own way.

But Calypso had a point. That would have to wait. The All-Stars would be arriving soon, along with Shadow. Then, he could complete his revenge, and claim himself to be the strongest of his world, after all this time.

He had no doubt in his mind that he would get it.

* * *

"It's done." Damien announced. The last line of coding had been put in, everything had been set in place.

The Master Emerald was hooked up to all sorts of wires that all lead to a teleporter out on the runway, with some of them leading back to the many computers Damien had up and running. At the center of the teleporter, was the painting. It had quite the journey, but it made getting to Polygon Man possible. CJ was thankful he took it, to say the least.

Kutaragi sighed as he walked out onto the runway. The All-Star power was almost gone. Within a few hours, Polygon Man could assure victory for himself.

Unless he was stopped. Kutaragi had spoken to each of the All-Stars before hand, and they all seemed ready. He had given Shadow a vial of AP for him to use, Jacket had thrown away all his masks, claiming he was a changed man, Mr. Ash was confident he could redeem himself, Pupuru had gotten over her trauma, and was ready to get her own back at Calypso, yes, it seemed they were all ready.

"We're under attack!"

Kutaragi snapped out of his daze. Oh no. Mavericks, Black Arms, D.U.P. Soldiers, they were all coming. The All-Stars were out on the runway, but the rallying cry came from Dr. Eggman. Eugene's men and the badniks were fighting off any invasion, though there was no guarantee that they would last long enough to see the end of the day.

"Alright guys, looks like we're gonna-"

"No! You must go now, or the chance will be gone!" Kutaragi ordered. "But what about-" "We shall hold them off, they will soon fall! But you must keep going, and stop Polygon Man!"

The All-Stars were torn. Some wanted to go, and some wanted to stay. But they all reaized they needed to go. If they didn't, all their effort would be for nothing.

Kellan and Echo kissed, as Echo stayed behind to help fight off the invasion.

"Aren't you coming?!" Raiden called out to Snake. "All-Stars only!" Snakd replied, loading an assault rifle. "You'll be fine, Jack!"

"Good luck, Hibiki-san!" Sakura called out, throwing a Hadouken at one of the Black Arms. "Kick their butts!" Blanka yelled out, crushing a Metool in his hands. Dan started to tear up. "You guys..." Johnny nudged him. "Keep it together, Hibiki!" He laughed.

"Teach that no good scrap heap to betray me!" Eggman ordered, flying off to the Egg Carrier in the Egg Mobile. Shadow chuckled. "I, for once, do not believe he was referring to me." Omega said.

They needed a leader though. Nathan Drake stepped up. "Alright guys, I know we may have our differences...some of us kinda hate each other. A lot. But y'know, there's a guy out there who's gonna screw us all over if we don't get it together. Every single person here was chosen because people believed we would be able to defend our world from something like this. And y'know something? I believe it too."

The All-Stars looked around at each other, as the chaos around them seemed to be taking place in another world for a split second. Those were the stakes. Any screw-ups, any errors, and they would be made to pay. With their lives.

"Whaddya say we put our differences aside, and teach these assholes a lesson?" It was Nathan Drake. "All in favour, raise your hands."

First Sackboy,

Then Iota,

Then Knack and Crash,

Then Spike, Parappa and DJ,

Then Delsin, Kat, Cole, Messi and Kobe,

Then Isaac, Juan, Nathan Hale and both Dans, Hibiki and Fortesque.

Followed by Lara, Taterazay, X and Omega,

Then Mr. Ash, Jacket, Sweet Tooth, Deadpool, Joel, Ellie, Lil and Laarg,

Then Jak, Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, as well as Sly Cooper, Toro, John, Johnny, The Hunter and Sir Galahad,

then Geralt, Ethan, Dart, Spyro raised his wings, Nariko and Kratos both raised their hands.

So did Sora, Ico, Cloud, Yu, Emmett, Radec, Zero, Shadow, Aiden, Chimera, Danner, Kellan, the Deviants all bounced up and down, the Traveler sang a note in agreement.

Dante, Alucard, Fat Princess, Pupuru, CJ, Rayman, Ty, Sacrifice, Pyramid Head, Kenway, Kutaro,

Even Heihachi, Zeus and Nightmare had their hands raised.

Nate finally raised his hand. "We're all in agreement then." He smiled. Looking around, it felt like they had come so far in such a short space of time.

The All-Stars focused on the portal, and one by one, began to run through it.

What could they expect on the other side? Would they be returning home? Who knew? No one. It was a giant step into the unknown, but it was a step they were willing to make.

For the best.

 ** _Author's Note_**

The final chapter before the fighting begins! Convinienently just as the All-Star power was running out too!

So as for the villains, Calypso has been exposed for what he really is, but they seem to be willing to co-operate for one last fight that will spell the end either way.

Sorry that this chapter's a bit shorter than usual, I couldn't think of much else to add without it seeming like fluff, and I wanted to get down to the fighting!

There's been a hurricane/storm here that knocked out the power :(

Hopefully, I have it back on tomorrow. Even if I don't I can catch up on Pokemon Crystal that I never get time to play, so yeah, if I'm not killed doing something stupid or trying to get a cow out of the front yard, I should have the next chapter up fairly soon.

Until Next Time!


	44. Into the Inferno pt1

All of them, all the All-Stars found themselves in the domain of Calypso. The towering hell where he trapped innocent souls was distant, but screams of agony and fear could still be heard. All of them, their hearts were racing. They had pinned Calypso and his cronies this far back, to the point where he would have to turn and fight them.

He would be merciless though. They knew what he was capable of. He had powerful support still left as well. But none of that bothered the All-Stars. Finally, a chance at revenge for trying to take them down. It was all they wanted, and now they had it. That was what they were thinking of.

But still, the horrors of Calypso's realm unnerved the All-Stars, especially those who had seen it before. They were petrified of ever being in that position again. This time would be different though. They were a team.

"Okay guys, we know what we're up against here. Just keep your cool, keep together, and we'll get out of here alive." Nathan rallied the All-Stars. They all nodded. They looked around at one another. How fortunate they were to be a part of the team. Sure, they might not have been the best of friends, but that would have been boring. They had a common goal, and that was all they needed. Polygon Man and his villains wouldn't know what hit them.

"We're gonna have to split up into groups to take 'em all on. Black Doom, Zarok, Cortex, Edgar Ross, Calaca, Izanagi, Dracula, Sephiroth, Augustine, Sigma, Metal and Calypso are all here plus their henchmen, but I say we stick together and split up as we encounter them. That way we hit 'em fast and with numbers." Nathan explained. They all agreed.

Not a moment too soon either, as corrupt DUP troops fired at the All-Stars. Cole was the first into action. His lightning bolts shot through the soldiers, but he was still able to bark out orders. "Delsin, Kat, Kobe, Messi, I need you guys!" The five stayed behind while the rest of the group went on. Delsin found plenty of smoke to use, firing it at troops overwhelming Cole, buying him time and cover. Messi and Kobe got shots in on the troops, dazing them. It wasn't long before the heavy troops started to come in. It was a struggle to avoid heavy gunfire, with quite a few of the bullets finding their mark. Delsin was thankful for his quick healing.

"Hey Delsin! Over here!" Cole called out. Delsin saw the plan immediately. He grabbed the attention of the heavies and got them to start chasing him. A few followed, firing storms of bulllets as well. But eventually they were lead to Kat, and as Delsin smoke dashed through her, she used her gravity powers to suspend them in mid air. Cole used his ice powers to freeze them. "Now guys!" Cole yelled. Messi and Kobe followed up with shot after shot, smashing the frozen soldiers to pieces. "Yes!" Cole laughed. The group high-fived each other, celebrating their small victory. But they quickly got back to business, as they knew they weren't done yet. Not only were there more soldiers to deal with, but Brooke Augustine would reveal herself shortly.

* * *

Sigma's grunts came in their masses, charging towards the All-Stars, trying to slow them down. X fired back. Zero joined in, and so did Omega. Shadow held back to fight too.

Between them, their combined efforts made short work of the bots. "Be ready for Mavericks!" X charged his blaster. Sure enough, Storm Eagle swooped down from above. X dilligently avoided him and fired at his wings. One of them blew up as Storm Eagle came crashing down in an explosion, taking out a few more grunts on his way down. Zero sliced through Spark Mandrill, causing him to detonate in the face of his allies as Chill Penguin came sliding in to tackle Zero. The maverick hunter jumped over him though, allowing Omega behind him to open fire with a barage of missiles, sending the robotic penguin flying sky high in a thousand pieces.

"Not bad." Zero said as he landed, turning to attack another maverick using Hadangenki to shoot an energy wave forward, obliterating scores of them at once.

X had no trouble holding off the mavericks, using the Aiming Laser to take out tens at once, then switching to his homing missiles to catch faster opponents, sliding under anyone who got too close, while Omega was having a field day unloading all his ammunition into everything in sight.

Still, Shadow was there. He wasn't an inconvinience, far from it actually, but he had his own score to settle.

"Shadow!" Omega called out as the Ultimate Life Form threw a chaos spear through Flame Mammoth, chalking another maverick off the list.

"You must find Metal!" Omega reminded him, blowing up a metool. "Not now, I need to stay and help fight back!" Shadow argued. "We cannot afford to have Metal drop in at an inopportune time!" Omega countered. "He is coming after you. You shall finally get your chance to fight him that you desire!"

Shadow paused. Come to think of it, Omega was right. Metal didn't want anybody on the All-Stars team except him. That was probably a good thing, not only for the All-Stars, but for Shadow too. He had the Chaos Emeralds now. He could fight Metal. Make him pay for what he did.

"Sure you can hold off all this?" Shadow asked, kicking down another random maverick. "Affirmative!" Omega confirmed. Shadow nodded, as he began to use the Chaos Emeralds. It made even Zero and X stop, wondering what all the other mavericks were so focused on. Shadow began to glow as he smashed a vial in his hand. All-Star power. The liquid evaporated as he absorbed it, leaving Shadow with golden and orange fur in place of his black and red fur. "Now make Metal suffer the consequences of his actions!" Omega cheered. Shadow didn't need a second instruction, shooting off into the distance immediately, leaving the other three to fend off the mavericks as the carnage resumed.

That might have been a mistake, as Omega was then hit by a missile. His defences were enough to take the brunt of the damage, but it did stagger him. Vile stood nearby, just watching the three.

Omega quickly obliterated Launch Octopus in retalliation and then the three focused on Vile. Or rather, the figure behind him. Sigma stood there, smiling, with both Vile and his robot dog, Velguarder, by his side.

"Megaman X." He grinned. "Zero." Then he turned to Omega. "I've heard a lot about you too, Omega. I'm dying to see you in battle."

"You've really gone and done it this time, Sigma!" Zero aimed the Z Saber at the maverick leader. "Have I?" Sigma asked. "To engulf the world in darkness. That's way too far in my books." X interrupted. "Besides, I thought you couldn't stand humans."

"That is none of your concern!" Sigma snapped. "You're correct. I can't stand those fleshbags. I'm not the only one. But they can, and will help me to achieve my goals, the least I can do, is show some gratitude. Don't you think that's appropriate?" He asked the maverick hunter.

Zero had enough by that point, lunging at Sigma, only for Velguarder to lunge at him and tackle him to the ground.

"Zero!" X fired a shot at the robot dog, and quickly ducked to avoid fire from Vile, who jumped in, armed with his Frontrunner shoulder cannon, firing at X's head. The maverick hunter slid underneath the blast while charging his own shot, and fired at Vile. The reploid didn't move, simply blasting the shot away with one of his own.

"Well, well, well. Looks like you're a bit rusty, X." Vile taunted, clicking his fingers. X recognized the behemoth that came stomping into view. The Ride Armour.

Vile quickly jumped into it, and charged for X. "Now. I'll finish you off for good!" He laughed, charging straight for X. He fired a charged shot in retalliation, only for the shot to ricochet off the armour's knuckle, which soon connected with him.

X went sprawling across the open field, seeing the chaos unfolding around them. Sackboy and Iota had teamed up to neutralize other robots coming their way using creative methods, but they were far outmatched. Big Daddy was slowly being worn down as legions of Zarok's minions tried to bring him down unsuccessfully, falling to his wide variety of techniques.

Raiden, on the other hand, was slicing up the minions like ribbons, despite being outnumbered heavily.

On the brighter side, X was able to see Mr. Ash, Nariko and Sweet Tooth making a dash for Calypso's building. Just going inside, actually. That meant that soon Calypso would be out. One less villain to track down.

Vile moved closer in the Ride Armour, eventually cornering X. He raised his fist to finish the job.

Then, Zero came in and sliced at the arm.

But what happened next made his eyes widen.

The armour caught the Z Saber.

Meanwhile, Omega and Sigma were staring each other down, Omega knowing he couldn't move to aid Zero and X, or he would be hit hard from behind.

Sigma was waiting for Omega to open the formalities. Honestly, he wanted Omega off his back, just as he wanted the rest of the All-Stars off his back, but that cloaked figure warned him that Omega was more powerful than he seemed.

Sigma didn't believe that. For a start, He towered over Omega. He was way taller than Zero and X too, but he was at least three feet taller than the ultimate E-Series robot. But it didn't seem Omega would move a muscle, so Sigma stepped in.

"It seems as though Zero and X are struggling, Omega." Sigma laughed. "Don't disappoint me."

Omega understood the situation. He was prepared.

The fight between the two ultimate robots named after ancient greek letters began.

Sigma launched a kick at Omega immediately, which the E-Series droid managed to block, but not without being pushed back. Immediately jumping back into a fighting position, Omega unloaded his miniguns into Sigma. But the corrupted robot just smiled. "Your timing was perfect." He took out his Sigma Blade and charged for Omega. Omega tried to avoid the attack, but Sigma disappeared before he even got a chance to retaliate. All of a sudden, Omega heard an awful scratch noise as he turned around. Sigma had attacked him from behind, the coward.

"But your choice of weaponry is worthless!" He mocked, teleporting in front of Omega and slashing with the Sigma Blade again and again. Omega couldn't find his footing and was finding it impossible to get a punch in. Fortunately, he had ways around that.

Sigma laughed as he gracefully danced in front of Omega, as the smaller, clunkier robot struggled to even stay on his feet. He was still laughing when the drill hit him in the face. Trying to get it out of his face, he backed off and took his eyes off Omega, which proved to be a big mistake. Omega opened fire on Sigma again, but this time, with the Omega Guns. The explosive rounds seemed to be doing the trick better as Sigma grunted and tried to shield himself from the barrage, before finally getting the chance to cast a reflective shield, rebounding some of the rounds back at Omega.

Omega wasn't falling for the same trick twice though, as he used his drill arm again to uppercut the much larger robot when he appeared behind him.

Sigma looked pissed. He no longer had that not so serious look, but he still laughed. "Omega, was it? I'll make you regret the day you were made!"

Sigma tried punching Omega while Omega countered with basic punches of his own, but there was clearly one stronger robot. Sigma easily overpowered his plucky rival with fast punches putting dents into his already scratched plating.

"Having fun yet?!" Sigma laughed as he picked up Omega and slammed him into the ground.

He had never endured a beating like that before. Omega wondered why Sigma insisted on carrying a blade when he could punch so hard. It was amazing. But Omega was badly damaged, and Sigma was still furious. Zero and X were preoccupied, so he had to go alone for the time being.

Sigma had yet to reach his gull potential too. Even analyzing him for a brief minute, Omega knew Sigma was far more powerful than he showed himself to be.

If Sigma could do this while using so little power...

But Omega didn't sweat it. Yeah, it was true Sigma hadn't gone as far as he could go.

But neither had Omega.

* * *

It was a concrete platform above the Lake of Fire which Delsin and the other had found themselves on. It was obvious that Brooke Augustine was here to them, and they were right.

Brooke Augustine had revealed herself. "Delsin Rowe." She gritted her teeth. "I see you've brought back-up." She raised her hand and fired a concrete shot at Delsin. The shot hit him hard, but did little to faze him.

"What's that supposed to be?" He asked, readying his own shots. He had plenty of concrete with all of the D.U.P. soldiers here anyway. Cole could rely on Zeus, wherever he was, for electricity, and Kat, Messi and Kobe were self sufficient.

"You're outnumbered five to one. You've gotta be out of your mind to try something against us." Kobe tried to reason. "Whoever said anything about one on five?"

There were about one hundred soldiers ready to open fire on the cliffs across the Lake of Fire behind her, as she encased herself in concrete.

"Open fire!" She ordered.

The D.U.P. Soldiers wasted no time in following her orders, firing a mixture of concrete and lead at the All-Stars. Cole returned fire, zapping the soldiers with extreme accuaracy while Kat flew off into the gunfire, looking to get things done up close and personal. Messi and Kobe were so accurate with their shots that they could take out at least ten each in a minute.

Delsin was one on one with Brooke Augustine. "I should have killed you when I had the chance!" She growled from underneath the concrete, swinging wildly while Delsin ducked. "Likewise, bitch!" Delsin retorted, firing a powerful concrete blast at Augustine. It hit her face, or where the face would have been if the concrete didn't cover it.

"All I was trying to do was save conduits!" She continued, slamming her fist into the ground. Delsin rolled out of the way and attacked with his concrete infused chain. "You imprisoned them and tortured them. How was that 'saving'?!" He demanded, furious with the nonsense coming out of her mouth.

"You think you're a hero, Delsin?!" Augustine demanded, firing a blast of concrete at Delsin who managed to create a small concrete shield which absorbed the blow.

"No, I-"

"Try saying that to your brother with a straight face!"

That line hit him like a pile of bricks. In fact, it almost hit him as hard as the next punch Augustine threw straight into his face.

Delsin stumbled backwards, towards the edge of the platform, catching the attention of Cole. "Delsin!" He called out attempting to run over, only to be met with a rock solid punch to the face from Augustine, sending him sprawling across the platform.

Over the edge as well. But Delsin was too stunned to react, even when the two sports stars were blasted over the same edge by another concrete blast from Augustine, he couldn't do much.

All it took was another hit from Augustine to send him flying over the edge.

Kat saw it unfolding before her even as far away as she was. "Delsin!" She cried out, getting ready to take off in pursuit of him, but she was beaten to the punch. A 'whoosh!' came thundering by, so fast that Kat couldn't even make out the shape of it.

But there was a voice.

"Don't stop fighting!" It ordered.

Why did that voice ring so many bells in her head. Did she...recognize it?

Yes. Yes she did, there was only one other person with a voice like that she had encountered. She was sure of who it was.

But why would he want to help?

* * *

Mr. Ash, Sweet Tooth and Nariko arrived at the top floor. There he was. Sinister as ever. Calypso grinned as the All-Stars came face to face with him. "I must congratulate you on your astounding efforts." He said, sitting back as they walked further into the office. "Of course, they were all in vain, but let's not have that subtract from your efforts." Mr. Ash stood forward. "It's game over, Calypso. All the All-Stars are, and we outnumber your guys." Calypso chuckled. "Of course. But have you factored in my armies of damned souls? Or the armies anyone else has? Even then, I've yet to see you take out a single leader among us. So what makes you so sure you're winning?" Then he clicked his fingers. All of a sudden, they were surrounded by Evil Cole, Ragewolf, King Bohan, Magusar, Devil Jin and Minion, as the landscape changed to reveal a mountain top, with all of those ressurected by Calypso surrounding them, and Minion towering over them from behind Calypso. "Time manipulation, mind reading, why, he can even raise the dead. And once spawned, they are forever loyal to Calypso." He quoted, grinning sinisterly. "Did you forget so soon, Ash?"

"Why do you do this?" Nariko asked. Calypso was confused. "You obviously don't do this for Polygon Man, for one, you don't use All-Star power, for two, you control your allies as your own pawns." Calypso smiled.

"You've caught me." He was happy to explain. "Ever since I was sent to hell, I've been looking for my revenge. I came up with the idea of Twisted Metal. To be honest, Ash, Minion was pathetic. I could have escaped from him at any time, but I simply chose to wait until I had a plan. So when I came up with the plan, I had no doubts it would work. And I was correct. I thought I'd most certainly ended any chance of anyone ever coming back to kill me when I captured you, but I underestimated your impecable resourcefulness. When you escaped again, it gave me reason to worry that I may be at risk. So I set about the best way to build up an army to stop you. I went to New Marias, and found Evil Cole, but that wouldn't be enough on its own. That's where Polygon Man came in. What a fool, and what a team of fools he had with him. They worked great as pawns. Now, all I have left to do is wait for you and the other villains to tire each other out, and then make my way to Polygon Man, overthrow him as I did you, Ash, and then, with all that power, no one shall be able to challenge me. My revenge against the world which was always so vile to me, I'll be one step closer to having! And you Ash, I have sepcial things planned for you!"

It was at that moment that the eyes of those Calypso had ressurected turned red.

"Attack!"

* * *

Delsin looked up. Everything was a blur. His ears were ringing and his healing factor was taking its sweet time to get into gear. He looked high above to where the battle was raging on. They were losing, and they still hadn't even found Calypso or Metal Sonic as far as he knew. Why even bother? It was a challenge right now just to stay alive, and here he was, survivng on the whim that it would be a good idea to go back up there. He had let everyone down, and for the last time too. He was blacking out. As he released his last few breaths of air, Delsin's life flashed before his eyes. Most importantly for him, he prayed that he would get a chance to see everyone again. The tribe, his parents, Betty, and of course, Reggie. He wondered what Reggie would say when he saw him, imagining hugging his brother tight, telling him how much he missed him, and about everything that had happened since. That was the kind of pick me up he needed after everything. Delsin snapped out of his trance as his vision and hearing came back into focus. A man had picked him up and was dusting him off. "Wha?"

"Hey brother." Delsin's eyes snapped wide open. The man who stood there wore that stupid sheriff getup that Delsin always used to tease him about, accompanied by that badge of authority. "Reggie?" Delsin said it so softly no one would have heard unless they read his lips. He squeezed his brother tight, as tears of happiness rolled down his face. "Reggie!" Delsin tightened his grip. "I missed you so much!" Reggie eventually got Delsin to release him. Through teary eyes, Delsin took a look at his brother's face. Reggie never stopped smiling, in a way so comforting it felt like all the bad in the world had been drained. "Delsin." He said. "The highest power has given me this one last chance to see you." Delsin teared up a bit more at that. "No. Reggie, please, you're my brother. I need you. Please Reggie, don't leave me again." Delsin choked out. Reggie kept smiling. "Look up there Delsin." He said, pointing up to the All Stars who still struggled to fight. "Those are your brothers and sisters now. They need you." He put his hand on Delsin's shoulder. "Delsin. I will always be with you, even if you can't see me. Just remember that your proud big brother is cheering you on." He then put his other hand on Delsin's other shoulder, and looked into his eyes. "I'm so proud of you Delsin. Mom, Dad, Betty, and everyone else, they're all proud of you too. Those guys up there, they're proud of you too, though they might not say it."

Delsin sniffed. "I-I love you Reggie." Reggie laughed a little. "I love you too little brother. Now get back up there and help save the world!" With that Delsin hugged his brother one last time and launched himself back up to the action.

As Delsin left, Reggie melted into a metallic liquid. Metal Sonic regained his original form. The other villains were going to be feeling some serious heat for that, which Metal didn't like, as it meant he was on Calypso's level. Was it a bad decision to do all that just to pile on pressure against Calypso? Probably. But it was no matter, as only one All Star would be tackling him. He discreetely made his way back to where the rest of the villains were biding their time, getting ready to pounce on the All Stars.

* * *

Taterazay sliced through one of Zarok's undead minions, before coming face to face with a familiar alien he hadn't seen for a while.

"You're Black Doom, aren't you?"

"I'm surprised you remember, Taterazay." Black Doom greeted. "That's not the only thing I remember." Taterazay pointed his sword at the alien leader. "You said we were gonna have a fight some day, didn't you?"

"That I did. I see your men are preoccupied." Taterazay looked down into a valley where a large group of All-Stars were fending off minions of Zarok, Calaca and Black Doom. Nathan Drake, Lara Croft, Fat Princess, Nathan Hale, Chimera and Sir Galahad to name a few.

But Ton, Chin and Kan were down there as well, helping fend off any attacks.

"One on one. As I planned." Black Doom continued. "I may not have Chaos Emeralds, but I shall be more than enough as I am to defeat you."

That was when he began to transform. His already alien form became even weirder, as he was now some monster comprised of tendrils, with one eye in the middle. He towered over Taterazay, but then again, so did most of his opponents.

Taterazay tried slashing at the new beast, only to find that his sword passed right through it. He tried again and again, but the sword didn't do anything.

"Nothing?" Black Doom mused. "Even less of a challenge than I thought." One of his tendrils crashed into Taterazay, sending the Uberhero Patapon flying. "I'll finish you off early, since fortune has-" He stopped mid sentence, as a beam flew towards him, striking his eye. It dazed him, as he was unable to do anything. Geralt leapt out from behind Taterazay and sliced through one of the tendrils with ease, causing a thick black substance to ooze out of it. Black Doom immediately snapped out of his trance and hissed as he recoiled in pain. "So you didn't come alone!" Black Doom growled.

"Like I said, don't count on either of those things!" Taterazay countered, as Nightmare arrived on scene too. "You fool." He spat. "I would love to see the world under my control, but as for people who wish to destroy it? I won't allow savages like you to stick around and get in my way!"

Nightmare launched at Black Doom with a Grim Stride, only for the attack to pass right through him as he moved into the air.

"We can't afford to just lunge in." Geralt warned. "He can just phase through our attacks if we do that. Conventional means are no good against him."

"I have a suggestion." Nightmare spoke up. "You two must weaken it first. I may consume its soul." Geralt and Taterazay looked at each other and shrugged. "Well, I don't-" They were cut off by a large rock smashing into the ground beside them. "Shit!" Geralt swore. "Behind me!" He ordered, running in front of the two and folding his arms. Taterazay thought he was crazy. "Wait, what are you-" He stopped himself as an immovable dome began to encircle the trio.

Heliotrop. Geralt's most powerful sign. He rarely ever used it because it demanded so much energy, but it was truly a charm. The rocks all ricocheted off the shield, becoming fragments and falling before the shield. Geralt uncrossed his arms as the dome faded, facing a rather surprised Black Doom.

"I must admit, that surprised me." Black Doom conceded. Geralt ran towards his target, readying Axii once more. He narrowly avoied the tendril slamming down to his left before one on his right swept him off his feet. Black Doom quickly took the opportunity, grabbing Geralt by the legs and holding him upside down. "But surprise is not enough to defeat me."

He saw Nightmare out of the corner of his eye lunging for Geralt and raised a tendril to stop him.

Then there was a slicing sound, followed by the thump of something soft and squishy hitting the ground. Black Doom howled as Soul Edge tore through the tendril with ease, causing the beast to recoil as a thick black liquid spurted out this time, confirming it was his species' equivelant of blood.

Black Doom howled and swept the three away with one vicious strike from one of his tendrils, with Nightmare stopping first and stopping the other two from moving further.

That hurt like hell. But at least they knew that was something they could do.

"I was created solely for combat. Do not underestimate my knowledge." Nightmare explained. "Against such an opponent, it took me only a minute to figure it out, that he would have to attack us at some point. I used that opportunity to attack, as his body was solid again."

"Damn. Not bad." Taterazay commented, slowly getting to his feet and seeing another rock storm heading towards them.

"Uh, guys? I think we made him angry."

All across Calypso's Realm, the final battle between the All-Stars and the villains raged on. They still had a lot of work ahead of them, and any errors would prove costly.

Even though they were starting to feel drained, the All-Stars had a long way to go.

 _ **Author's Note**_

I'm not sure whether this is going to be in two or three parts, now that I'm actually getting around to doing these fight chapters, and on further consideration, it might be three.

Still, I'm not complaining, these fight scenes are a welcome change for me, so I should be able to do more now.


	45. Into the Inferno pt2

"I keep telling you Nefarious, we need to go!" Cortex demanded. "Like I'll listen to you, squishie!" Nefarious responded, not at all happy with the suggestion. "It took you five minutes to get beaten by those-" "enough!" Nefarious cut him off. "You've made your point." He growled. "We must go through this way, it's where the All-Stars came from! Our only way back!" Cortex explained. "They'll attack us!" Nefarious countered. "What choice do we have?" Cortex countered. "I have the choice!" Nefarious argued. "All you did was hide and cower like the pathetic little squishie you are, while I fought!"

"My research is far more work than you realize. I hoped a doctor such as yourself would realize that!" Cortex, not wasting any more time, jumped through the familiar wall, shortly followed by a reluctant Nefarious, back to the world away from Calypso.

But why? Nefarious didn't know. All he knew was that he would have time to regroup and try again, but Cortex knew. He had left much of his work in the real world, work which would no doubt help whoever got their hands on it.

It needed to be destroyed.

* * *

John Marston finally stood atop one mountain peak, looking to find another way into Calypso's tower. He had gone ahead of the others on a mountain path, to find that the two peaks were connected by a narrow bridge, perfect for getting in through a fire exit.

It may have seemed strange that there was a fire exit in hell, but John at least knew that the building was modelled after the real world tower, which had a fire exit. Strange to think you could get away with mass murder on an annual basis, but missing a fire exit got worker's unions onto you like white on rice, even if you were the ruler of hell.

"Now, if we just continue along this path here, we should arrive at the Calypso building any-"

John Marston was interrupted by the sound of a hundred guns being armed at once. The group with him still remained lower down as he went up to the top to get a view, but they had already assumed cover behind whatever they could find.

"Y'want us t' open fire, sir?" One of the gunmen asked Edgar Ross. "Wait just one minute there."

Edgar Ross stood atop one peak, with John on the other. Beneath him, Aiden Pearce, Nathan Hale, Chimera Hybrid, Lucas Kellan, Arran Danner, Edward Kenway and CJ. Edgar had them outnumbered. The All-Stars were hoping that didn't mean outclassed.

"So John, all the chickens come home to roost at last." He raised his pistol as John raised his revolver. John's expression never changed from its hardened look, in contrast to Edgar, who wore a more hungry look, like an animal that had just trapped its prey. "Father and son with the same gun." He taunted. "I wouldn't count on it." John retorted, able to prevent himself from firing a wayward shot. "I wish I could say 'it's just business, but as a matter of fact," He stopped to laugh "this is more personal to me than you could possibly comprehend."

"I ain't claiming that I'm a man of good will to all." John responded."But if I can take a few assholes like you down a peg, I get to feel a little better about myself by the end of the day!"

Edgar laughed. "You never knew when to quit, John!" He raised his arm as he backed away, happy to let his men do the dirty work. "Kill them all, except Mr. Marston. He's to be brought to me."

"Sir, I can't guarantee-" Ross didn't let him finish before shooting him. "That's an order!" He barked to the rest of the men before walking away from the ensuing chaos.

John immediately fired for the nearest men to him, activating his Deadeye to target six men at once, and shoot all of them in an instant. But it was nothing compared to the amount of enemies they had yet to face. John ran back down the mountain path, occasionally being hit by flying stones that were struck by gunfire.

Nathan Hale was the first All-Star he encountered, and just in time too. He had taken out the Pulse Cannon and was getting ready to fire it. "No!" John yelled. "We need to keep the bridge there!" Nathan lowered the cannon, but didn't have time to do much else, tossing it aside and bringing up the Bullseye. He deployed an Auger Shield to block the gunfire and opened fire on the crowds, carefully picking them off one by one.

Danner was the next person down, but he seemed to realize that the bridge needed to be protected. But he had other concerns too. "They're using the bridge to their advantage, look! There's about a million of 'em pouring across!" John looked up and noticed the large amounts of men running across, and hearing their footsteps. "Shit!" He swore, as he and Danner ran up the path again to Nathan Hale who was trying to hold off as many as he could.

Unsuccessfully, mind you. The Auger Shield was only capable of blocking so much, and Nathan was running out of time, with John and Danner only buying a few more seconds before...a spark of red? There was more. More blood, as the soldiers began to divide their attention, there was the sound of swords slicing through bone and flesh, something neither thought they'd love to hear. But Edward Kenway was slicing and dicing like no one's business, the close quarters combat being no place for the rifles of the regular soldiers. "How the hell did you get up here?!" John demanded. "I'm not a master assassin for nothing!" Edward replied.

John laughed. "Well, I gotta hand it to you, that takes some serious balls to go scaling around the edge." He was then interrupted by a bullet flying past his shoulder.

There were seemingly thousands of soldiers trying to make their way across the bridge, all taking shots at the All-Stars. Then they heard the sound of an engine from behind them, as the sound of a minigun whirring into life accompanied it. CJ was the one responsible, jetpacking up and getting ready to tear through the ranks, something the soldiers all realized just too late.

He had them all gone within seconds, landing with the other All-Stars and looking ahead, across the bridge, as they were shortly joined by Aiden, Lucas and the Chimera. "We've gotta keep going!" CJ ordered, not wasting any time in running across the narrow bridge. "Wait, what?!" Lucas demanded before another shot flew past CJ's shoulder. "There's still like a thousand of those bastards down there!" CJ yelled, throwing a grenade off the bridge and providing enough reason to the rest of the All-Stars to get into gear, running across before Nathan Hale used his Pulse Cannon to destroy the bridge.

It didn't completely shut off any route to the All-Stars. but it made it a lot harder for the many soldiers who were currently working their way up the mountain, dividing the soldiers up. Having only half of the soldiers to deal with was still a challenge, but because they no longer had to be so careful, the carnage meant the soldiers lasted even less time before getting pumped full of lead.

"I see that door!" Aiden yelled, taking out his phone while running. "What the hell are you doing?!" Kellan demanded. "Opening the door!" Aiden yelled back, tapping the phone a few times before the door opened. The gunshots all around them only served as a backdrop to the chaos, with Black Doom's minions overhead adding to the grim atmosphere. They were attacking other All-Stars, obviously not caring much for the group that were never more than a few inches away from being shot. Luckily, they all managed to get in before the gunmen could shoot again.

The inside was quite grim, although they did come in through a fire exit, so it would have been surprising if it were that glamourous.

"Hear that?" CJ asked. The All-Stars went quite as they could hear a cacophony of clashing blades and shouting high above them. "Looks like we're not the first ones here." Edward remarked. "Y'all stay close behind, okay?" John rallied them again as he got ready to enter whatever passed for the reception.

He busted through a shabby looking door. "Oh shi-" He disappeared from sight. The other All-Stars immediately took that as a bad omen, and rushed to the cowboy's aid.

The ground floor was certainly creepy, but it certainly looked expensive, with the fine green and red patterned carpets and the chandelier hanging in the middle, as well as the rich mahogany desk there. It was a shame they couldn't appreciate it more.

Why?

Well first of all, Edgar Ross had about twenty men behind him, all with guns trained on them from the moment they entered the room. But still, they would have done something if that was all they were up against. But it was more than that. The man himself had something else that turned the tables on the All-Stars tremendously.

"Careful, gentlemen. That'll do." Ross advised. "I've got you surrounded, so any funny business ain't a good idea. All y' have to do is put down all your firearms and walk away." No one moved. Ross, realizing that they weren't going to co-operate quickly raised his gun and fired a shot to the side.

"No? Well then, you mustn't care for the cowboy's life at all." Ross taunted, pressing the gun back against John's head.

* * *

"I warned you not to disappoint me." Sigma taunted as he tried to bring down the Sigma Blade on Omega. That should have been it, bit Sigma felt the blade fly back in his hands, barely able to keep a grip on it.

Omega stood up quickly, knowing he saved himself by packing the power ups. Shields and Wisps. "I did not ignore it." He retalliated. Sigma lunged in with the Sigma Blade again, with Omega barely able to roll underneath it and take another power-up out of his chest compartment. He crushed it in his hands, causing it to disappear and a red glowing shield to appear around him.

Sigma ignored it, jumping in again with the Sigma Blade, with Omega jumping to meet it. Sigma didn't think much of it, simply going for more power in a slower strike to get past the shield. But Omega had other ideas, charging at Sigma while surrounded by flames, smashing into the maverick leader and sending him to the ground.

Omega then followed up with a homing attack, crashing into Sigma once more to deal more damage. "Alright. So you didn't disappoint me. That's not going to help you though!" Sigma growled, charging forward before teleporting. Omega anticipated the move, launching a drill uppercut behind himself. He anticipated wrong. Sigma smashed through the shield with one slash of the Sigma Blade and then followed up with a combo of slashes, finishing up with a rising slash, sending Omega into the air. "This place will become your grave!" He laughed, launching a flying kick into Omega, keeping him in the air, hoping to land another hit. He charged up his Sigma Cannon, something he rarely ever used, but he did have a technique called 'The Power Blast' which was basically his more powerful version of a Buster. Sigma charged up his shot at the rapidly descending Omega, eventually firing his shot.

Omega had a counter though, his Omega Cannon was overcharged to counter to shot. The two blasts collided in mid-air, leaving nothing but smoke in their wake. Omega knew he had an opportunity on his hands to show that he had more than just shields and guns at his disposal. Reaching into his chest compartment, he pulled out a capsule with a small yellow creature inside. Once free, the creature went inside him as Omega proceeded to spin like a drill, causing the air to heat up around him.

He crashed into Sigma, dealing significant damage as he could feel himself starting to tear through metal before the drill power wore off. Sigma looked pretty beat up, but he wasn't showing any signs of slowing down, swinging the Sigma Blade at Omega's feet, knocking Omega off his feet before punching him into the ground.

Omega barely managed to heave himself out of the way of the next shot, then fired the Omega Gun in Sigma's face, allowing time for him to heave himself up and try to incinerate Sigma. A big mistake as Sigma got in a hard punch to Omega, making him stagger backwards before teleporting forward.

All sorts of calculations were flashing up on his eyes, trying to predict where Sigma would strike. Without thinking any longer, Omega reached inside his chest compartment and pulled out another creature, this time an orange rocket shaped one. Smashing the capsule, Omega became an orange rocket, shooting upwards.

His wild guess had been a correct one, catching Sigma in an overhead slash, knocking his prized weapon out of his hands. The rocket shot upwards, taking Sigma higher and higher. Once he ran out, he pulled out another monitor, with a water drop on it. The Bubble Shield.

Omega launched a homing attack, striking the unarmed Sigma head-on, and then tackling him as the two rapidly descended to the ground. Sigma was already charging the Sigma Cannon as Omega hoped to get to the ground before Sigma could attack. Fortune favoured Sigma as the blast obliterated the Bubble Shield and knocked Omega back. As Sigma continued to the ground, Omega was able to use his thrusters in the soles of his feet to stop himself from crashing into the ground, while Sigma managed to land properly.

"I must commend you on your efforts. Most would have folded by now." Omega commented. Sigma grunted as he made a move for the Sigma Blade, only to be stopped by Omega landing a drill punch to his gut. Sigma launched a wild swing in retalliation, missing Omega due to his shorter stature.

"Enough!" He growled, readying for a punch. "Obviously I didn't make myself clear!" Omega ducked to avoid the punch. It never arrived. BANG! A blow to his back. Then a smash to his side, followed by an uppercut up front, then another hit, and another, and another, and another, it felt like he was being hit from a thousand different angles at once, warnings flashing up on his now cracked eyes that his condition was critically low.

But he wasn't done. Reaching into his chest compartment again, he pulled out a monitor that he hoped would be his trump card. Sigma easily snatched it out of his hand. "Hmph! To think you were so cowardly as to face me with so many underhanded tricks up your sleeve. It's a pity I can't recruit you. I saw you fight against Zero, you know. Why, Omega, had you not been so foolish, I think we could have controlled entire galaxies within days. But such is the way in life. You'll make a nice addition to some scrap heap!"

The monitor in his hands still flashed, the familiar face of Dr. Eggman grinning to anyone looking. Sigma crushed it in his hands.

"GUUUUUAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!"

The Eggman monitor was enough to paralyze him for now. "W-what did you do?!" Sigma demanded. Omega didn't answer. He was beaten to the punch by the Z Saber cutting through the maverick leader, making him explode.

Zero landed perfectly, and ran over to the damaged Omega. "Hey, stay with us, okay?" Zero ordered as X came over too. "I trust you were able to handle the other two?" Omega questioned. X nodded. "It was nothing really, but we needed to focus on Sigma, so we got rid of the distractions. We didn't know you'd try to engage him one-on-one." X explained. "I see it's taken its toll on you." X tried to examine the damage, but Omega dismissed it. "I may be damaged, but I am still operational. I will be able to survive long enough to obtain the necessary repairs required." He droned on.

"Not a chance! We need to-" X stopped. Something he should have anticipated, but it still dreaded him to see, as the green wire 3D head formed. Sigma's body may have been destroyed, but he was not.

"You didn't think I'd make it so easy, did you?"

* * *

Metal stood on top of the mountain behind Calypso's tower, waiting for the final hurdle between Polygon Man and world domination. The portal to Polygon Man was just behind him. He didn't guard it neccessarily, but insyead stayed there because of the lack of All-Stars.

He was searching for one particular All-Star. A glowing yellow dot on the horizon presented itself. Shadow drew closer, until he was face to face with Metal.

"So we finally meet as equals." Metal mused. "Or are we really? Of course, we both have equal potential, but is that anything in comparison of talent? Of knowledge? Of skill? We shall soon see. En Garde!" Shadow readied himself. "Don't worry Metal! I wouldn't want your last fight to dissapoint!"

Metal launched a spin dash at Shadow, which Shadow avoided using chaos control. But Shadow anticipated Metal coming back for more, and launched a kick at him as he tried to get a cheap shot. It connected perfectly, sending Metal flying higher into the air. Shadow took off into the air after Metal, looking to pile on some serious damage.

Metal tried to put some distance between himself and Shadow by flying higher into the air, until eventually nothing but the dark red fog was visible. The Black Arms still poured out, but none of them payed any attention to the hedgehogs who were approaching the speed of light. But as they went higher and higher, an idea began to form in Shadow's head.

"Chaos..." Metal dodged the chaos spear and fired his chest laser. Shadow used the spin dash to try and deflect the attack without much success. As the intensity of the blast became stronger and stronger, Metal decided to test his idea. "CONTROL!"

Metal stopped firing a second too late, only in time to see Shadow kick him from above and send him into a freefall. Metal was then hit in the chest by a spin dash from Shadow, increasing his descent speed and completely surpressing any attack. Shadow stopped just before the mountain, and watched as Metal crashed through the mountain, taking several chunks of the mountain with him into the firey pits below.

But Metal was only warming up.

 ** _Author's Note_**

Happy Halloween! (I know it's a bit late, but I digress) I dressed up as Akuma for the trick or treaters that came knocking, and the combination of red hair dye and gel is a fuckin' nightmare to get out D: (that's why this chapter is so late)

Also, I played TerrorDrome recently, for the occasion with some friends. What a genius concept, all things considered. I know it's kind of a 'Slasher Fighter' as opposed to a 'Horror Fighter', but I thought I'd give five characters I'd like to see added.

 **5\. The Leprechaun**

Being Irish, the one thing that annoys (and to an extent, humours me) is the inability of foreign actors to grasp the accent. Is it really that hard? Tom Cruise in 'Far and Away' was awful. Brad Pitt had one movie where he did a northern accent quite well, but other than that, no one seems to have gotten it right. Except for Warrick Davis. I've gotta admit, it isn't perfect but at least it sounds something like an Irish person.

The Leprechaun was still shit though. But he's had quite an adventure, going to Vegas, Space and even 'Da Hood', he's done quite well for himself. It's not scary or anything, but there's a few laughs to be had here and there, and I'd like to see the Leprechaun kill Jason with a pogo stick.

 **4\. The Babadook**

A more modern movie, and this is where I get outside the 'Slasher' territory. The Babadook was a pretty good movie, easily one of the best of the decade so far as it didn't rely on jumpscares alone to carry it. I'm not sure how this character would play, but a modern rep. would be fun.

 **3\. Kayak** **o Saeki**

The Grudge was absolutely terrifying to me when I was thirteen, and it still sends chills down my spine. The concept is clever, and the movie managed to scare me a lot more than many other modern horrors (I talk about why later.) and the visuals...oh God.

The way Kayako and her family of Onryos crawl/walk around the house is brilliant, combined with the expressions on their faces (that are kind of funny, looking back), but I think the thing everyone remembers is that creepy noise they make all the time. What can I say? This would be a good character to have.

 **2\. Frankenstein** **(Monster)**

I originally had Regan MacNeil in at number two until I realized 'I haven't touched on classic horror!'. I considered Dracula and Nosferatu to be here as well, but I kept my picks at five, because if it was ten I could talk until November.

But I see all these pussies going in with knives and guns and all sorts of weapons, that's not how a man fights! Real men beat things up with their fists! Yeah! Frankenstein's gonna fuck 'em up!

Well, I got carried away :P. More seriously though, Frankenstein needs to be in the game.

 **1\. Sadako Yamamuru/Samara Morgan**

This was the first time I watched a horror movie that genuinely creeped me out. Going back to The Grudge, it isn't the frightening imagery that does the job, however effective it is. What works is the setting.

You probably know about that one scene by now, but if you don't, I won't say anything. But think, where does it take place? A room with a TV, that's where. Why's this so effective? All the mental asylums and dark woods we see create an atmosphere that can't be matched by a simple room.

But what those other settings can't do, is get under your skin. The fact that it takes place in just a room. It could be any room, in any house. How about YOUR house? It could happen anywhere, giving you that nibbling feeling in the back of your mind that maybe the TV won't stay off for the whole night, or you'll wake up hearing damp footsteps coming towards you.

Well, at least when you're twelve years old, anyway.

So that's pretty much it, as for Halloween itself, it's a good holiday, I like seeing all the scary shit once a year, and I like the chocolate.

As for this chapter, it may be a four parter, I honestly didn't expect that. Oh well, I needed a chapter for Halloween. (Even though it's late)


	46. Into the Inferno Pt3

The standoff between Edgar Ross and the All-Stars felt like it was lasting an eternity, with neither side ready to make a move.

"Drop your weapons." Ross calmly ordered. "Walk away. That's all you have to do. Nothing else. Normally, such kindness and mercy wouldn't be shown to your kind by anyone else here. But I'm different. Kind, compassionate. So I'll say it once more. Put down your weapons and walk away."

The All-Stars didn't. Ross made himself way too easy to read, and even then, there was no reason for them to put down their guns.

"No? Nothing? After all I offered you, and you just up and refuse it like that?" He scoffed. "How rude. Well," He sighed "I guess I have no other choice. Boys! Line their lungs with lead!"

All the gunmean raised their rifles as the All-Stars prepared to face the gunfire. Ross didn't care much for them though, as long as he got to kill John. "Three, two, one!"

BANG!

The first shot made Ross spin around on his heel. It didn't come from his men. One of them had just fallen to the ground with a hole in his head, making the rest of his men spin around too, leaving it wide open for the All-Stars to open fire, killing off Ross' men.

"What the-what the hell is going-" He didn't have time to complete the sentence as John elbowed him in the face and forced Ross to release him. He quickly grabbed his revolver as Ross fired a haphazard shot at the ground and fired through Ross' gut, making the rogue agent cry out and fall to the ground.

"Don't ever touch my family." John gritted his teeth. "Fuck you, John." Ross spat. "Good God, I was so close." John readied his revolver. "Any last words?" Ross paused. He was calming down. He shook his head weakly. "Nothing to say." John pointed his revolver at Ross' head. "May the good Lord have mercy on your soul, Edgar Ross."

He fired. That was the last of Edgar Ross the world would ever know of. It didn't fulfill him on the inside, didn't even provide him with a false sense of satisfaction. But at least now he might be able to live in peace.

But not right now. There were other All-Stars who had shown up, including the one who fired the saving shot, Lara Croft.

Behind her were Nathan Drake, Raiden, Isaac Clarke, Big Daddy, Abe, Johnny Cage, Joel, Ellie, Sir Galahad and Fat Princess.

"I don't get it." Aiden was confused. "How did you get here with all of those guys on your trail?"

Lara told them to look outside, which they did, only to see a giant Knack devastating everything in his path, including the many unfortunate grunts that came up against him.

"He's pretty much destroying them all on his own, so we decided that we needed to head up here." Nathan Drake explained. "There's some crazy shit going on up there." Johnny added.

Making their way up, the group saw Nariko holding off King Bohan, only he looked to be a purplish dark shade with red eyes.

Jacket and Sweet Tooth had just fired a missile at Minion, and what happened next was strange. Stahl somehow turned into a dark cloud and started floating above the building.

While all that was going on, Mr. Ash knew there was only one person who he wanted to get. "I'll kill you, Calypso!" He gritted his teeth, throwing a wild punch for Calypso's head. "What for? All I did was exact my revenge. I think that's the least I deserve." Mr. Ash ignored him and tried again to knock Calypso's head off his shoulders. Calypso teleported to avoid the attack. "All those people you killed in Twisted Metal and in New Helghan, what, do you think _I_ was responsible?" He laughed. "No Ash, it was all you. You're going stone mad over me, and it will kill you!" Calypso seemed to take great pleasure in saying that, and however much he didn't want to believe it, Mr. Ash couldn't help but worry that he was right.

He threw another punch while Calypso was still laughing, and managed to connect with his jaw. The punch sounded like cannonfire, and it was way more powerful, but Mr. Ash wasted no time in keeping up his advantage, throwing punch after punch to Calypso's head as fast as he could, ending with a kick that sent the Twisted Metal host flying.

"I won't give you the satisfaction of that!" Mr. Ash spat. Calypso slowly heaved himself up as Mr. Ash prepared a blast of dark energy for Calypso, firing immediately. Calypso, however, rolled out of the way and stood up, with all the bruises and blood on his face began to fade away.

"You know you're going to have to try much harder than that if you want to beat me!" Calypso laughed, as Ash was tackled to the ground by Madfang Ragewolf. Ash struggled to throw him off, as Ragewolf slashed at his face with his claws, always within an inch of his face, or making a small scratch. But he was quickly saved by Taterazay, stabbing Ragewolf through the head and lifting him off Ash in one swift motion.

"Thanks." Taterazay helped Mr. Ash up. "Don't mention it." The Patapon hero brushed off the thanks. Nariko and Bohan were still clashing, and Evil Cole was ready to pounce on the duo. But just as he raised his amp, a blast of ice knocked him off balance. Cole then swung his amp at his evil counterpart and sent him flying off the edge of the building. "Sorry we're late. Got caught up." Cole apologized as the rest of the group that took on Brooke Augustine came into view behind Cole. "Not bad. Good to have you here."

"Cole, look out!" Cole barely had time to turn around before he saw Devil Jin charging towards him, claws ready to strike.

"Gadouken!"

An energy blast knocked him off course. There was Dan Hibiki, who had fired the energy ball, celebrating his small victory as Kat grabbed him in a gravity field and fired him off into the distance.

Minion howled in pain as he was sliced up by the Heavenly Sword and Blades of Athena, while Bohan was killed by Pyramid Head...again.

Stahl was shot dead by Radec, but there was no blood. No, Pupuru had beaten him to the punch, freezing Stahl in place with ice magic and setting up Radec for an easy kill, where just one shot shattered him into a million pieces.

Mr. Ash turned to Calypso again, who simply stood there with a sinister grin on his face, unfazed by what he had seen.

"Give it up, Calypso!" Calypso raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's what you're going with? I have the power of the strongest demon in hell, and that's what you come up with? Really?" He laughed. "Not to mention that this place is going to be gone in half an hour."

"What?!" Mr. Ash demanded. "You can't be serious!"

"I knew you would come here, so I made sure that I would keep you occupied for as long as I could, and then abandon you in this place while it was literally falling apart! It was genius! With no other competitors, or so called 'allies', I have little need for this place!"

Mr. Ash gritted his teeth. "You won't win! I'll stop you!"

Calypso laughed again. "Stop me? Stop me?!" He laughed again as his voice turned demonic.

"YOU WISH YOU COULD STOP ME!"

Calypso began to grow. Rapidly. His skin turned red, along with his eyes, while horns sprouted out of his head, and wings out of his back. Claws came out of his toes and fingers, and none of it stopped until he was at least 100 feet tall.

"LET'S SEE YOU TRY AND TAKE ME DOWN NOW!" He cackled as he swung his hand down on the building, trying to crush the All-Stars. Nariko, Kratos and Dante narrowly avoided getting crushed while the former two tried to use their swords to hold down his hand. The blades instead ricocheted off the hand, making nothing but a small scratch.

"What?!" Kratos was shocked. "That's impossible!" Calypso ignored him and swept them both aside, off the edge of the building, with the two of them barely having time to use their blades as climbing hooks.

Nightmare and Pyramid Head tried the same thing, only to find that fly swatters might have been more effective as weapons.

"Maybe some long ranged weaponry ought to do it!" X suggested, charging the X Buster and firing. Calypso didn't even feel it before he was able to send Zero, Omega and X flying off the side of the building. But there was something he missed.

Jacket knew now, that he was as freakish as all of his masks put together, smart like Ramus the Owl, strong like Tony the Tiger, and most importantly right now, fast like Brandon the Panther.

It was prettt nifty being able to run so fast, with Calypso barely noticing him as he ran up the demon king's arm and onto his shoulder. Jacket took out a power drill, with the intention of blinding Calypso to give the All-Stars a much needed leg up in the fight. He had trouble, but he was able to successfully climb up and plunge the drill into Calypso's eye, with his heart racing as he tried to deal as much damage as possible.

But then Calypso simply reached up and pulled the drill out, holding onto it with Jacket still holding on.

"WELL, WELL, WELL. I ALWAYS KNEW YOU'D TRY SOMETHING LIKE THAT." Calypso taunted. "What's that supposed to mean?!" Jacket spat. "IT MEANS, THAT EVER SINCE WE MET, I KNEW YOU WERE PATHETIC, A TRUE TWISTED METAL WINNER!" He yelled, tossing Jacket back down to the building.

As Jacket flew through the air, he couldn't stop thinking about that last line. Something struck him, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was. Then something else struck him. The building.

* * *

Metal charged again at Shadow, while the Ultimate Life Form charged back. That was the opportunity he was waiting for, and he had to seize it.

"Shadow, it's a performance like this in battle that will give me all the more satisfaction when I finally win."

"Don't be so sure about it, Metal!" Shadow retalliated. "Why shouldn't I be? I have all your data, not to mention the data of every other All-Star and villain! Polygon Man will soon have his coveted victory!"

Shadow pounced on the opportunity. "Chaos...CONTROL!" Shadow started seeing in negative colours, and charging a chaos blast.

"Sometimes, the original is the best!" Shadow grunted as he unleashed the blast on Metal, allowing time to resume as Metal took the full assault.

Once it was gone, Metal floated in mid air, but accepting of his defeat. He was critically damaged. It would take a long time for him to heal from that, and he knew it.

But before he could say another word, Shadow kicked him sky high and went off to the other All-Stars. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't he win?

That was a question for another time. Right now, all Metal hoped for was that Calypso would be taken care of.

* * *

Jacket had taken quite some punishment. Now his lead pipe was the only thing holding him up. There weren't any wounds gushing blood or so bad they could kill him, but on exhaustion alone, it felt like he was inches away from blacking out.

He wasn't seeing very well, and all the noise around him was starting to all come together in one confusing warble. It wasn't the end. It couldn't end like this, Jacket knew that, but he was hearing so much at once. Sometimes, one of the quotes would become more audible than the others, and more distinguishable.

To top it off, there were two of them repeating themselves, from Calypso of all people.

Wait. What?

 _"YOU WISH YOU COULD STOP ME!"_

Why was that line ringing in his head?

 _"EVER SINCE WE MET I KNEW YOU WERE PATHETIC, A TRUE TWISTED METAL WINNER!"_

That one too. What did it mean?

He thought back to when he first met Calypso. He won the contest...

"That's it!" Jacket clicked his fingers. "We might have a chance! But I need to be careful."

He ran forward to Calypso and swung at him with a crowbar. He had no intention of hitting Calypso though. Calypso grinned from ear to ear holding Jacket by his foot. "SO. YOU GOT A BIT COCKY...WELL, WELL, WELL." He chuckled. But Jacket, with his wavy blond hair not wearing any mask had the biggest smile. "I'm awfully sorry Calypso." He said. "YOU SHOULD BE." He growled. Jacket laughed. "I know. I never used that wish you so generously gave me."

Calypso's expression changed from sinister, to a more straightforward intimidating stare. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Calypso demanded. "This 'pathetic, true Twisted Metal winner', is entitled to one wish, from you!" Calypso's grip tightened. "DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE." He hissed. "I wish..." Jacket couldn't stop smiling. "I'M WARNING YOU!" Calypso yelled. "That Black was returned to Mr. Ash."

"NOOOOOO!" Calypso yelled as Black shifted from his side to Mr. Ash's and Jacket safely landed, caught by Nariko. He quickly tried to attack Mr. Ash before he could use Black by crushing him, only to be blocked by Nariko and the Heavenly Sword. "Now Black! Remove Calypso's invulnerability!"

Calypso stopped. He had shrunk down to about 8 feet. Still pretty tall, but not nearly as impressive. "No matter. I'll just have to go to plan B!"

He quickly took out a vial and cracked it over his head. All-Star power. He absorbed it all as he began to radiate a dark purple aura. "I'm just getting warmed up!"

Then there was the sound of something falling out of the sky.

Calypso watched as Metal landed in a heap behind him. Sparks flew from his circuits, dull hissing sounds could be heard from fried circuits which gave off smoke, his metal frame was dented and bruised, and even with the power of the chaos emeralds, it was a challenge to stay alive. Calypso looked over his shoulder, half glaring scornfully, half grinning wickedly, with wide eyes. "A fucking hedgehog. All this time." Metal cursed his luck. "So, that's what you are. Well, now I understand why you didn't want to let me know who you really were." Calypso strolled over. It was amazing how he managed to keep calm even with all that was going on ahead of him. "IN CASE I KNEW HOW TO DESTROY YOU!" His voice changed from his usual sinister tone to a demonic scream. He laughed. "GOODBYE METAL." Metal didn't even have the energy for resistance as Calypso's demonic flames scorched him, and Calypso walked away.

But that didn't matter. Metal had one more thing to do. One more thing, and you could bet it involved Calypso. Metal still had some All-Star power left, and it might have been barely enough for what he was about to do, but it was still enough.

Fortunately for Mr. Ash, it gave him time to give instructions to the other All-Stars.

"Guys, you've gotta get out of here noe!" Mr. Ash ordered. "Wait, why?!" Jacket demanded. "This place is gonna blow sky high in like, fifteen minutes! Calypso has it set to go off!" Mr. Ash then focused his attention on Calypso. "I'll finish him off myself!"

"One on One!" Calypso laughed. "Finally, I can destroy you!"

Calypso readied his dark energy as Mr. Ash readied his, and the two fired, equal to each other's power.

Huh? What was that...oh no. A C4. With the iconic flaming clown head on top of it.

"I never forget, Billy!" Sweet Tooth hollered.

"MARCU-" The C4 detonating in his face was enough to disorient him, and that was enough to disrupt his energy blast. Even for a second, it was too late, with Mr. Ash still going, Calypso could only scream as Mr. Ash's blast assaulted him, draining every last ounce of energy he had.

When it was gone, Calypso was breathing heavily. He looked like he could collapse at any minute, and his burnt skin didn't do him any favours.

"groh...Groh...GROAH!...GROOOOAAAAAAAAHHH!...GROOOOAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!...GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The demonic Calypso fell to the ground. He still maintained those features, and he still was about eight feet tall, but he was down. "No. It-it can't end like this!" Calypso tried to crawl away from Mr. Ash. "This wasn't supposed to turn out like this!" Mr. Ash smiled at Calypso's futile attempts to escape. He bent down so Calypso could hear what he had to say. "Well guess what? It did." He whispered into his ear. "But it isn't over yet. Someone else has a bone to pick with you." Caylpso could hear Sweet Tooth marching over to him, as he finally stopped crawling. "I've waited a long time for this, Calypso!" Sweet Tooth laughed as he plunged the same machete Calypso stole from him into his back, pinning him into the ground. Calypso wheezed as he tried to reach for the blade without much success. "That'll teach you to mess with the Tooth!" He continued laughing as he went away. "Nicely done. I don't think I could've managed it any better myself." Mr. Ash patted him on the back. They went to meet up with the other All-Stars at the foot of the tower.

"Everyone is defeated. We...we did it. We did it!" Spike cheered.

* * *

"Ugh..." Calaca's demonic form could barely move. The beating Juan and Heihachi gave him nothing that he wanted, all it did was leave him sore all over.

Zarok didn't look much better, staggering over and having to use his staff to support himself. "Curse you Fortesque..." He grumbled. "I'll get you yet...". Truth be told, Fortesque had some help, from Radec, Pupuru, Jak, and Daxter.

Things certainly could have been much worse though. Brooke Augustine had been encased in concrete and then fell off the platform she stood on into the fire pits, making it so that she was now literally in pieces over her loss to Delsin, Cole, Messi, Kobe and Kat.

No one knew where Gundahar or Evil Cole were despite finding a giant Evil Cole shaped hole in the ground. Evil Cole especially, considering he was formerly bound to Calypso, but they obviously didn't know that with Calypso's powers gone, he was no longer bound to serve Calypso. Izanagi claimed that he abandoned ship without even challenging his good counterpart, obviously to escape Calypso.

Izanagi himself, however, couldn't really confirm that at the moment, not that he was one of the casualties, but that he was extremely close to being one. Yu Narukami had gotten his revenge, with help from Ico, Death Jr., Kutaro, Ty, Sacrifice and Dante.

Sephiroth wasn't so lucky. Cloud, Dart, Sora and Spyro had finished him off after a lengthy struggle.

Dracula shared the same fate, being defeated by Alucard, The Hunter, and Dan Hibiki, somehow.

Black Doom was killed by Geralt, Nightmare, Pyramid Head and Taterazay.

As for Nefarious and Cortex, they too abandoned ship, after being defeated by Crash, Ratchet and Clank.

Calypso had suffered many losses on that day, including that of all his trapped souls. Those that he didn't get a chance to send after the All-Stars were released by Iota, Sackboy, the Deviants, the Lemmings, Lil and Laarg, not that it mattered too much at the moment.

Yes, it looked like things had gone south for the villains really fast. Only a few survived, and their armies would take months to rebuild, and that was assuming the All-Stars wrote them off as dead. But why? Why didn't it work out? Never mind. Polygon Man would soon make them pay.

Calypso wasn't out yet either. He still had some All-Star power, and he knew how to use it.

* * *

Mr. Ash used his powers to heal up the All-Stars, making sure they were in peak physical condition for the fight ahead.

The All-Stars were silent. They had beaten their greatest foes, as a team, and it felt good. But there were tremors. "What?!" Knack looked around as the fragments which made up his body rattled. "It's Calypso! He's taking his realm with him! We need to go!" Mr. Ash explained. They all made a mad dash for the bridge, as the tower behind them collapsed.

The All Stars sprinted to the portal as the hellish world collapsed around them. The tremors and falling rocks posed enough harm, not to mention they were on a time limit to get out of Calypso's realm.

Shadow was first to the portal. He lost his super form, but he guarded the portal, shot up any debris in the way, and ushered the rest of the All-Stars forward. They started to make their way through the portal, but about three quarters of the way through, a familiar sight appeared. Calypso. He was still in his demonic form.

"Give it up Calypso, you lost!" Nariko reminded him. He was furious. "Not quite yet." His hands began to part the All-Stars away from the portal. "I may have lost this time, but I'll recover. I'll go into hiding and rebuild my empire. Recapture the souls of those who stood in my way. All on my own. As for you, you can rot with this place." He laughed a demonic laugh. "Enjoy your nonexistance!" He laughed as he made his way towards the portal.

"Calypso!" Kratos launched the blades of Athena at Calypso, but his shield held strong. Nariko tried the Heavenly sword, and still got nothing. Omega fired a barrage of missiles, but they all harmlessly bounced off Calypso. "NO!" Sweet Tooth pounded at Calypso as he walked towards the portal. Kat tried to lift Calypso out of the air, Shadow even tried a chaos spear. But it was nothing.

His laughter grew more and more sinister as he approached the portal, and a pit started to develop in all of their stomachs as they realized they were doomed. It couldn't end like this. It just couldn't. After everything, Calypso had still managed to walk away.

"Goodbye All-Stars! I look forward to torturing you for all eternity!" He howled with laughter as they futily tried to slow him down.

It couldn't end like this. That was the one thought going through the head of every All-Star. Mr. Ash watched as they all poured their hearts and souls into simply slowing him down, while he could break through without a sweat. Mr. Ash thought. He had been consumed by revenge. He had a fun ride too. Four-hundred and ninety six long years. His heart was racing, but he knew what needed to be done. It was only right.

"CALYPSO!"

Calypso turned his attention to Mr. Ash. He was promptly tackled to the floor and punched in the head. All it took then was for Mr. Ash to clip his wings with his arms held around his back. "Ash?! What are you doing?!" Calypso demanded. "You said it yourself, Calypso. You wanted nothing more than to get rid of me for good, so we're staying back to see this place off!" Calypso's eyes widened. He started to struggle furiously, but Ash wasn't getting off his back. Ash turned to the All-Stars. "You guys…..Four hundred and ninety six long years of experience. Of seeing things that I thought weren't possible. Meeting the most interesting people." He laughed a little. "I gotta say. This whole experience, it was a great way to end everything. You are truly All-Stars."

"RELEASE ME!" Calypso demanded. Mr. Ash punched him in the head again. "Quiet you!" He barked. Then he turned back to the All-Stars. "You gave me one last chance to redeem myself, to make something of myself, to prove my worth, and for that, I cannot thank you enough. You….are the greatest allies- no, friends, I could have asked for. Words can't describe the gratitude which I owe to you. Sincerely, I thank you."

The All-Stars just stood there, silent. The whole thing had come as a massive shock. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU ASH! YOU WILL FEAR ME AGAIN!" Calypso screamed. "Go!" Mr. Ash ordered. "Defeat Polygon Man, save the world, don't let this be for nothing." Then there was something on his face. It was a rare sight. Almost unique, but a single solitary tear trickled down his cheek. "I'm gonna miss you all. But you've gotta be strong for the whole world; Because together, no one can defeat you. You are truly the greatest of combinations! Show him that, for me and for everyone else!" He saluted them, and they saluted back. With that, the All-Stars disappeared through the portal. Mr. Ash knew what he needed to do. He shot the portal with a blast of dark energy, causing it to go out of control. "NO! DON'T! YOU'LL KILL US ALL!" Then again. This time, the portal fell apart, with the world around it. Calypso finally got Ash off his back. He raced over to where the portal once was.

The purple portal fizzed and snapped. Game over. "NOOOOOOOOO!" Calypso screamed as he fell further and further into an endless abyss. All his evil had finally caught up with him, and now, as he fell through nothingness, it would stay with him forever.

As for the All-Stars, one final hurdle stood between them and victory. A purple, crystal, polygonal hurdle.

 ** _Author's Note_**

It's...almost over. All the villains are gone with the exception of Polygon Man, and now there's only one fight left.

I wanted to do more on the fights between the individual All-Stars and the villains, but I would've been here until next year if I did that, and I wanted to get other chapters up first.

Well, not much I can say right now. This is one of the only chapters that I didn't make any changes to as I went on. From day 1, it was planned to go like this.

Until Next Time!


	47. The Final Battle

The All-Stars arrived in the crystal arena, without Mr. Ash. All that remained for them was one more opponent, and he had nowhere left to hide.

Making things different this time again was the fact that they would be using All-Star power this time, instead of a battle of blooshed. But aside from that, it was still a battle, and they needed all their wits about them.

All of a sudden, a pile of purple crystals started to come together in front of them, making a giant face.

"You've finally arrived." Polygon Man smiled. "I was beginning to think you'd never make it, with all the measures I put in place. Thankfully though, that didn't happen."

"So what now?" Knack asked. "Surely you've got something else you want to throw at us? Unless those guys back there were your last line of defence."

Polygon Man shook his head. "Not at all. I came much more prepared than that. Let's just say that I benefited a lot from bringing you all here in the first place." The All-Stars remembered Kutaragi telling them about Polygon Man bringing them all together before they got together as the PlayStation All-Stars. "When you were there, I was able to replicate you and your abilities, something I had practised for quite some time. Well, now I've perfected it." The next thing they knew, seventy three clones were brought in from seemingly nowhere, all resembling the All-Stars, minus Arc.

"You know, most of the other villains were gonna turn on you once we were out of the way. So why trust them at all, especially considering all of these clones are basically your mindless drones?" Nathan Drake asked. "Though it saddens me to know that, you can never have too much support. Considering I had so much power, I figured that it wouldn't make any difference if they did turn on me, though I hoped I would be able to unify them."

He shook his head. "But such are things at the moment. I am left with only myself and my armies at my disposal. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Polygon Man floated to behind the crystal arena, looking down on the battlefield. "I consider this to be a role playing game. Today, you will be playing the role of a piñata!"

The clones attacked all at once.

Seventy Three.

Dante engaged with his clone, with the two Rebellions locking before retracting. The two then pulled out Ebony and Ivory before firing at each other, only to find themselves to be equal.

Heihachi was having similar problems, thankfully being able to predict his opponents moves, but still finding that he was just as predictable.

"Hey, I think we're gonna be here for a while!" Nathan Drake yelled, taking cover behind a column while his clone fired an AK-47 at him. Drake was constantly looking to get a shot out, but the bullets whizzing past his position of cover were enough to keep him rooted.

All the clones seemed to only target the All-Stars they were the ones they were cloned after, which was somewhat convienient, as it meant they were more predictable, but it also meant there was no relief for any of the All-Stars either.

Except for Sir Daniel Fortesque though. Those sparring matches against Raiden had given him experience against speed and strength far superior to the clone, but it was still a close match. Sir Daniel had to get his shield up more than once to block wild and powerful overhead slashes from his clone, before returning with slashes of his own, and even there the benefits were showing for him as his clone's reckless attitude left him wide open for attacks, enough so that the Hero of Gallowmere was already on a Level One. Sir Dan immediately used his sword to lift the clone into the air before activating his Level One, using lightning to make the clone disintegrate into shapes.

Seventy Two.

But the Hero of Gallowmere wasn't the only Dan who had the upper hand. The Master of the Saikyo-Ryu fighting style had improved significantly since Polygon Man last saw him, and now he was actually a seriously good fighter. It took him no time at all to outclass his clone all the way up to his Level Three, The Satsui No Hado.

Dan turned to his clone. He decided to unleash his ultimate move on the clone, getting a red gleam in his eyes before gliding through the air and pouncing on the paralyzed pretender. Anyone who would have looked would have seen nothing but pitch blackness, but Dan had just obliterated the clone's soul. Or KO'd him, whichever worked.

Seventy One.

But what they would have seen was Dan standing over the body of the clone before it was obliterated, with a glowing crimson symbol on the back of his gi.

天. Dan didn't know what it meant, but he was sure it sounded intimidating.

Only one other All-Star saw it. Nightmare. He would have started asking questions, but he was preoccupied with his own issues, having to fend off his own clone. In addition to that, the Mr. Ash clone was making its way over, throwing a scrap heap at Nightmare.

"Gadouken!" Dan yelled, immediately springing into action, with the ki blast obliterating the projectile, before striking the Mr. Ash clone in the head with a Dan-Kuakyaku. Nightmare still struggled against his clone though, and Dan could see that. He soon abandoned the Mr. Ash clone one he picked up a Level One, and then turned to Nightmare.

The Hissho Buraiken managed to KO the Nightmare clone, allowing Nightmare to immediately focus on the Mr. Ash clone, launching a Soul Wave at him, knocking him off balance, before lunging in with another attack.

Seventy.

Shadow was another All-Star who had an advantage against his clone, habing faced off against other clones before. A Level Two Inhibitor Ring Dash was enough to take care of the clone with ease, leaving Shadow to help elsewhere. He soon found Omega, and his unfortunate clone, Omega boasting about his evident superiority before using his own Level Two to blast the clone to pieces.

Sixty Eight.

"Any idea where the others are?" Shadow asked. "Currently engaged with the common enemy." Omega responded.

"What about Polygon Man himself? Maybe we should attack him." Shadow suggested. "We may have a lot of work to do if you wish to pursue that course of action." Omega responded.

"We'll find a way."

"Heeyah!" Pupuru yelled as she slashed wildly at the Radec clone. The Helghast colonel wouldn't admit it, but he did like that level of aggression. He focused his attention on the Pupuru clone, getting up close using his invisibility cloak and then attacking with his combat knife and pistol, enough to land him a Level One. "I'm finished with you!" Radec yelled, taking out the StA-X3 W.A.S.P. Launcher and firing it, watching as the missiles homed in on the clone and blew it up. Pupuru had just used a Level Two to destroy the Radec clone.

Sixty Six.

Zeus noticed the conflict between Dan Hibiki and the Mr. Ash clone. He remembered being beaten by the clone, and without thinking, rushed over, forgetting his own clone.

"Zeus, you old fool!" Kratos snapped, slashing at the clone with one of the Blades of Athena. His own clone still attacked, but Zeus payed no attention, already attacking the Mr. Ash clone.

Kratos rushed over to the clone, switching to a shield and spear so he could start off the front foot, then lashed out with wild slashes from the Blades of Athena. That was enough to reach a Level Two. "Die!" Kratos shouted as he plunged the Blade of Olympus into the ground.

Sixty Four.

Shadow kicked the Zero clone in the back of the head, enough to knock it off balance so Zero could attack it with a combo of Z Saber swings, building up to a Level One. Triple Rod Overcharge. The Zero clone exploded into shapes as Zero turned to Shadow. "Thanks. Now where's that...oh." Omega had decimated the X clone in a matter of seconds, leaving the four to move on to other things.

Sixty Two.

"Hey, can any of you guys fly?" Shadow asked. "If I can get my Ultimate Armour." X replied.

"Same here. If I can get to Absolute Zero, I should be able to as well."

Nariko was assisted by Sir Daniel in getting rid of her own clone, using her Level Two to then get rid of the clones of Toro, Johnny, Dante and The Hunter.

Fifty Seven.

Raiden finally got the upper hand on his clone, KO'ing him with a Level One, before moving on to help Sir Galahad, getting enough AP to get a Level Two. Activating it, Raiden sliced through the nearby clones of Galahad, Sacrifice, Lil and Laarg, Joel and Ellie, Isaac Clarke and Alucard.

Fifty.

Zero, X and Shadow were struggling to find any clones to earn their AP against. Zero was on a Level One again, X was close to a Level Two, and Shadow was on a Level Two. They had just seen Arran Danner, Nathan Hale, Lucas Kellan, Deadpool, Sweet Tooth and the Chimera Hybrid KO their clones.

Fourty Four.

Shadow seized his opportunity, dashing towards the Ratchet and Clank clone as well as the Jak and Daxter clone and launching a homing attack at the former. Following up with flurrys of kicks and punches combined with Chaos Control, Shadow easily built up his Level Three.

Ratchet had already gotten a Level One tag teaming with Jak, and had used it to KO the Jak and Daxter clone, and then KOing his own clone.

Fourty Two.

"My skateboard _never_ stops!" Parappa cheered as his skateboard got rid of his own clone, as well as Rayman's, Ty's, Spike's, Kutaro's, Death Jr.'s, Messi's, Kobe's and Abe's, finally bringing the figure under half.

Thirty Three.

Heihachi and Juan were helped out big time in KO'ing their clones by Zero, finally getting him to a Level Three, leaving just X, who was still on a Level One, before they could put their plan into action.

Heihachi and Juan then immediately focused on clones of Jacket, CJ, Fat Princess, Cole, Ico, Cloud and Geralt.

"Hmmm." Heihachi mused. "Such a large number of opponents will surely be tedious to eliminate, Luchador. We need more help.

Heihachi cackled as he used his Level Two, calling in Kuma to maul the clones to pieces. Juan would have shaken his head, but he was both happy and impressed that the number was lower.

Twenty Two.

The Nathan Drake clone finally met his match at the hands of Sly Cooper, using Carmelita's jetpack to drop bombs on his own clone, as well as the clones of Nate, Lara Croft, Dart, Aiden, Ethan, Pyramid Head and Big Daddy, before landing.

"Not bad, rodent." Aiden muttered. "I heard that. You're welcome." Sly retorted.

Fourteen.

As for Emmett Graves, thanks to some teamwork from Yu, Sora, The Traveler, Delsin, Edward, Kat, John, Taterazay, The Lemmings, Spyro and The Deviants, he was able to KO them all with one Level Two.

Two.

That just left Knack and Crash against their clones. Both on a Level Two, they looked at each other. "After you." Knack offered. Crash wasted no time getting into his kart and crashinf it into his clone, making Knack laugh a litttle before launching a relic blast at his opponent, finishing off the Polygon Army.

None.

But that didn't matter. X, Zero and Shadow had all activated their Level Threes. Flying up, they managed to freeze time and make it to Polygon Man. They still didn't have a lot of time, but freezing time bought them a few more seconds.

Shadow immediately lunged in with a spin dash, taking a crystal off the face of Polygon Man. That was when he saw it. It looked like a big ball of All-Star power, but the fluctuating size and random spurting of AP told Shadow what he needed to know.

"That's the core!" Shadow exclaimed. "What?!" X couldn't believe it. "Inside of him?!"

"We need to get it out then!" Zero wasted no time in tearing away at the gap while X fired a barrage of missiles, all while Shadow charged up a Chaos Blast. They hoped it was enough.

Time unfroze as the three fell back down to the arena, surrounded by the other All-Stars.

"Well, I must applaud you for your efforts." Polygon Man smiled.

"But it-" He started to twitch. The All-Star core started to go wild, fluctuating at every second. Was this it? "No! This can't be! I'm so close, please don't let this be the end!

Yes. It was their chance. The core shot out a tidal wave of All-Star power onto the All-Stars.

It was unlike anything they had seen, and with so much All-Star power to go around, you could be sure they all had a Level Three aimed at Polygon Man, ready to strike him.

"Oh no..." Polygon Man groaned.

But it was too late. The supers were ready.

Crash put on Aku Aku mask and charged in.

Knack absorbed enough relics to tower over Polygon Man and started to attack.

Taterazay and his Patapons readied an assault of spears on Polygon Man.

The Deviants started to go wild, attacking Polygon Man from every angle.

The Lemmings started to fuse together to create a giant.

Kratos donned his God of War armour.

Nariko drew all the power from the Heavenly Sword, and lunged in to attack.

Nathan Drake watched as El Dorado's Sarcophagus opened behind him.

Lara aimed her twin pistols at Polygon Man and opened fire.

Spyro got ready to open fire on Polygon Man from above.

Dart became the Divine Dragoon.

Sackboy weakened Polygon Man by turning parts of him into stickers.

Iota called upon the Sun to help him out.

Cole MacGrath readied the Ionic Storm.

Radec got his StA-X6 Jetpack and was ready to open fire.

Shadow went super.

Zeus managed to grow to the size of a giant.

Ratchet and Clank jumped into the Aphelion.

Jak became Light Jak.

Aiden allowed T-Bone to take total control of the arena.

Sly Cooper started to use Bino-comm.

Ethan looked up to see a red balloon sticking out of a crowd, making Polygon Man an easy target.

Pyramid Head allowed a mysterious fog to roll across the stage.

Lucas Kellan used an adrenaline pack.

The Chimera Hybrid called in a Spire Missile.

Cloud unleashed the Omnislash V5 on Polygon Man.

Ico acquired the Queen's Sword.

Arran Danner called in a Sky Fury.

Nathan Hale fired the Pulse Cannon at Polygon Man.

Sweet Tooth got into his Mecha Tooth.

Deadpool...wants you to pitch in before it's too late. He promises to help too...

Edward Kenway captained the Jackdaw as it fired its cannons and mortars at Polygon Man.

John Marston activated Deadeye.

Sir Daniel picked up the Anubis Stone and allowed it to drain Polygon Man's energy.

Raiden entered Jack the Ripper mode and started wildly slashing at Polygon Man.

Isaac allowed Polygon Man to be torn apart by the vaccuum of space.

X equipped his Ultimate Armour.

Geralt felt the arena become much colder as the Wild Hunt arrived.

Galahad acquired the TS29 Cannon.

Juan felt the worlds of the living and the dead merge, increasing his power.

Heihachi chained Polygon Man to a rocket, preventing him from defending himself.

Delsin launched himself into the air for an Orbital Drop.

Kat merged with Dusty to become the Gravity Panther.

Joel and Ellie allowed their vision to go dark, as they listened for Polygon Man.

Lil and Laarg allowed for every trap they had ever faced to attack Polygon Man.

Lionel aimed some powerful shots at Polygon Man.

Kobe called in his teammates to stun Polygon Man.

The Traveler watched as a bright light rose behind him.

Toro allowed his dreams to become reality.

Emmett piloted a Warhawk.

Yu Narukami used his Ikuman no Shingon move.

Death Jr. picked up his dad's scythe.

Parappa started to rap.

Sora transformed into his Final Form.

Dante activated his Devil Trigger.

Sacrifice activated his Berserker Black Rite.

Pupuru read the Doom Scroll.

Fat Princess called in her armies to attack.

Abe possessed a Slig.

Big Daddy started to flood the stage.

Rayman called in a stampede of Raving Rabbids.

Ty activated the Doomerang and charged for Polygon Man.

Spike called down a satelite missile.

Kutaro became empowered by the Moon Goddess.

Dan Hibiki readied the Shun Goku Satsu.

Johnny Cage stood on top of Polygon Man and held up a trophy, allowing fans to swarm him.

Omega went into a berserker rage.

Zero became Absolute Zero, flying in with razor sharp claws.

Alucard targeted Polygon Man with a Time Stop spell.

The Hunter acquired Ludwig's Holy Blade.

Jacket put on the Russell Mask, seeing everything in red, black and white.

CJ armed himself with missile launchers and miniguns, and flew into the air.

Nightmare became Night Terror, and flew towards Polygon Man.

All at once, the attacks hit him as the core began to slowly leave its resting place, starting to float above the now defeated Polygon Man, who was devastated not only by the attacks, but by his loss too.

Polygon Man started to slowly deteriorate, piece by piece. As the head lay on its side the All-Stars all walked over.

"But...how can this be? I was assured victory..." Polygon Man sighed. He seemed upset, but resigned to the fact that he had lost.

"You had us at the start." Nariko conceded. "But from the moment we organized, it was only a matter of time before we overtook you. Your team of villains was indeed powerful, but there was too much conflict. Most of them prioitized only their individual interests without even considering working as a team."

"I suppose so." Polygon Man coughed. "You...are a good team. Something I wished I could be a part of..."

"I think you went about it the wrong way though. There were certainly better options available to you than this." Dart replied.

"Never mind." Polygon Man dismissed their words. "Right now, that's all for me. You've done well to make it this far, and accomplish what you have. Take the core back to Kutaragi, and do what you want then. Soon you'll realize just what else lies in store for you...I wish you good luck, Playstation All-Stars."

Without another word, Polygon Man finally deteriorated, as the core gently lowered itself. The All-Stars recognized it immediately, remembering all that which Kutaragi tried to supress, not that it mattered now. All they had to do was step in and it would take them back.

So that's what happened. Looking at the crystal arena one last time, the All-Stars all stepped inside the core, waiting as it beamed them back home, having finally accomplished what they set out to do in the first place.

 ** _Author's Note_**

Well...it's not exactly over yet. But it's close to that point. I always had this bit planned too, but I can't really say too much at this point. Much more to say later on.


	48. Ending and Epilogue

"Haha! I knew you would do it!" Kutaragi laughed upon seeing the All-Stars back on the airship. That was where the core took them, convieniently.

Kutaragi, Eggman and everyone else on the airship had fended off the attack with ease, leaving them to wait for the All-Stars to return.

In the days to follow, the All-Star core was finally up and running again, restoring the use of AP to the Playstation Universe. The different game franchises were still in the same world, which might have posed a problem, but Kutaragi didn't fix it for some reason.

Kellan and Echo got married, resulting in Kellan's retirement from the All-Stars, and he wasn't the only one.

But before anyone left for good, they all had to do one thing, and show up at Mr. Ash's funeral. Not one of them missed it, remembering his sacrifice. Some of the more emotional All-Stars couldn't keep it together and broke down in tears, which included Jacket. Man, he had so much to thank James for, and he never got the chance. It saddened him. But it also gave him resolve to keep going in the All-Stars.

But not everyone was inspired enough. Nathan Hale was through with fighting, having done it almost his entire life. The same went for the Chimera Hybrid, who threw down his weapons and left. Ico left for similar reasons as well. Someone from Marvel Comics had to come and get Deadpool and bring him back to their universe, apologizing for any damage he did.

The Hunter returned to Yharnam, to resume his position there, and Sacrifice followed him, hoping to be able to make a difference.

The Lemmings left as well, looking to return to their civillization. The Deviants left too, not content without causing mischief everywhere they went.

Johnny Cage left too, returning to his life elsewhere. Dan soon followed, back to his dojo along with Sakura and Blanka, hoping tocfinally pay his phone bill, having finally turned the Saikyo-Ryu fighting style into a legitimate martial art.

Zeus returned to Olympus, to try and correct his past misdeeds as King of Gods while Death Jr. had to go home to his dad.

The Traveler simply wanted to travel, and that was something he couldn't do with the All-Stars, so he left.

Lionel Messi and Kobe Bryant left too, obviously with lives of their own to return to.

It was kind of sad seeing them leave, especially after everything that had happened. But at least they were able to keep some people together. They even managed to recruit one more member.

"I say, what the hell. Might as well join up, Raiden." Snake answered. "Got nothing else to do." It was true. After his crazy career, the peace and quiet was a welcome change, but he could never resist getting back in action. That was why he joined up with...them.

Speaking of which, today, there were three more All-Stars getting ready to leave, but they were strangely still fighting. Snake knew where two of them were going.

Isaac had already left earlier that morning through a green portal, and now, Eggman was getting ready to do the same.

"Well, I'll be leaving then. With spiky hair Mcgiant sword and ghost hands." Eggman finally said. He was just getting ready to leave in his Egg Mobile, while Kutaragi got ready to send the Egg Fleet to another world. "Well, it looks like taking over the world will have to wait." Kutaragi smiled. "Don't push it. I was just beginning to warm up to you!" Eggman returned the smile and shook hands with the All-Star leader.

"I wish you the best of luck, doctor."

"Likewise."

With that, Eggman left. The Airship was docked in the middle of nowhere, but Kutaragi assured him that there was a portal to take them elsewhere.

A red portal. Eggman liked the colour red, and that was good, considering he was going to be seeing a lot of red in the new world.

* * *

Damien laughed to himself a little. It had been a strange experience in a number of ways, not least in having to team up with Aiden again. But now, weighing up his options as to what he could do next, there wasn't really anything at all he saw himself doing except sticking with the All-Stars. But there was something irking him.

"Well, at least everyone's safe." He finally said. Aiden and T-Bone couldn't understand that.

"I don't get it." Aiden replied. "We finally managed to beat Polygon Man. What are we missing?" Damien pointed to his computer screen. "That damn video. I must have ran that file through a thousand different programs, and I found nothing. We never found out who that woman was."

Aiden paused. To be truthful, there were many unanswered questions about recent events. Like why the Arc clone was a perfect clone while all the other clones were purple and couldn't speak, and the whereabouts of the original Arc. Also, what did Polygon Man mean when he said there was more they'd have to go up against? It didn't make much sense, but for once, Aiden was happy to let it slide.

"Eh. I guess it doesn't matter." Aiden shrugged. "Maybe." T-Bone agreed. "Although, it's kind of nice to have time to reflect."

"Yeah, I-"That's it!" Damien yelled, having a eureka moment. Bringing up the old video file once more, he focused on the windows in the background of the office. "I can't believe I missed that shit!"

It took some time and effort, but on the right side of the window, you could make out a woman's reflection.

White hair, pale skin, sizeable bust, it matched the description of the woman in the video.

"My God...you've found it. Who is she?" Aiden asked. "I'm taking the image right now and trying to find a match on the system. If it's another game character, there should be something on her somewhere in the system."

The screen started to flash as a matching file was found.

"My God...is this really her? What was she doing with those kinds of people?" T-Bone asked as Damien scrolled through the file.

Then he turned to Aiden. "I think the only way we're going to find out about this 'Black Heart' is to ask Kutaragi himself."

* * *

"Some guys like, Mario, Sonic, Link, and I hear they got some serious newcomers too. A guy called MegaMan, sort of like an earlier version of X with about a million different options for attack, then there's a lady, Bayonetta, who I hear is on Dante's level when it comes to hunting demons and using bizarre and deadly weapons, and a guy named Ryu. Supposedly, he's one of the best martial artists of all time. All kinds of crazy stuff, he can shoot fireballs and spin through the air, evrything. I heard they even got a Goddess to join."

"Hey, wait a second." Cloud asked, pointing to a space between the trees. "Hmm?" Eggman diverted his attention from the portal. Once he looked through the trees, there was...more trees.

"I'm not seeing anything. Come on. We're gonna be late, and not fashionably!" Eggman ordered.

Snake shrugged. "Well guys, good luck out there. They're pretty good people, so you shouldn't have too much trouble assimilating. And Doc. Go easy on Sonic, alright. He's gonna flip out when he sees you."

Eggman didn't even respond before he, Cloud and Rayman all jumped through the portal, ready for a new experience, although they doubted it could be much weirder than the one they just had.

The portal remained open, but Snake had no business going through it. Turning to leave, he headed back past the trees where Cloud claimed to have seen a man. Looking, Snake saw nothing. It was pointless, though Snake felt Cloud was telling the truth, he didn't persist. He got on his way back to the Airship.

The man finally stepped out of the shadows, relieved Snake didn't look further. The last thing he needed was another distraction. He had red hair tied back in a short high ponytail, with matching red irises. His size was average though, in both height and weight, despite having impressive muscles.

He wore a torn dark gi, ripped sleeves and everything, walked around barefoot, he was certainly a martial arts master. But everything about him took a backseat to what was most ominous. The symbol on the back of his gi.

天. The symbol had many different meanings, but only one mattered to him. It meant "Immortal".

"So, that's where Ryu's gone?" The man turned to the portal. "In that case, I'd better get through that portal!"

* * *

Back on the PS Airship, Kutaragi stood facing the large window. He had been thinking a lot recently, and yet, he still had much thinking to do.

Polygon Man had indeed been defeated. So had his team of villains. But Kutaragi now realized something much worse was waiting for the All-Stars on the horizon. He didn't want it to be true, but he did not want to keep the brave heroes in the dark. He would have to tell them.

But alas, there was a time for that, and that time was not now. It was soon, but now the All-Stars deserved rest. Polygon Man would not have so easily been defeated, or defeated at all, if not for them. They would be put to the test. A test he was sure they would pass. Their new foe would be a tricky one, one who, like Polygon Man, relied on a team to get his work done.

Although, much stronger. After all, it had been this new foe who had recruited Polygon Man all those years ago and threatened video games as a whole.

The team had been through much as well, and their power was certainly not to be taken lightly. Their skill, their power and above all, their teamwork, shone through to make them a truly excellent team.

It was a new and dangerous foe, but also a new and prepared team.

If anyone, anyone at all, no matter who they were, wanted to threaten the Playstation Universe, they were going to have to get through the Playstation All-Stars.

Kutaragi turned back to the doors. There wasn't anyone there, but he didn't expect there to be.

But it was more of a symbol. He saw it as a new step, a new chapter, a new battle in this war.

The War of the Playstation.

 ** _Author's Note_**

Well...I never thought I'd get here.

Y'know, when I set out to write this, I never imagined what kind of a journey it would be to do so. I've changed a lot throughout that time, both as a writer and as a person.

So I think I'm going to hold this one near and dear to me for a while, at least, I mean, even now I look back at some earlier segments and cringe, or occasionally stumble upon early drafts for this fanfic I came up with.

But still, this is going to hold something for me, and I hope it held something for other people too.

I'll definitely be coming back to PSAS, no doubt about it, but I have other things I need to do first.

Special thanks to N. Kirby for all those reviews, it really meant a lot to me. Thanks also to Celestial Glowhead and FanFic Loving Person for their reviews, and also thanks to everyone who followed and favourited this fanfic.

Now that it's over...I...idk. I think that might be it from-nah. I don't think I fooled anybody, but next up is Microsoft. I'll be taking a short break from writing, and I'll probably be back around Christmas with the first chapter of the Microsoft Elite: Digital Conflict (name I just came up with).

Well, if you've read this far, I'm out of things to say at the moment. (I suck at conversation :P) But thanks to you to.

Slán go fóill agus go raibh math agat!

 _Goodbye for now and thank you!_

 ** _The Leanehunter9_**


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